Ministry of Defence

MOD Boscombe Down: Domestic Visits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when a Minister in his Department last visited MOD Boscombe Down; and for what purpose.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Rt Hon Tobias Elwood MP visited Boscombe Down in January 2019, in his capacity as the then Minister for Defence People & Veterans. The visit focused on site infrastructure, and to meet some of the Apprentices working there. Since then, a number of senior visits to Boscome Down have happened, including, most recently, a visit was on Wednesday 15 November 23, which was undertaken by Mr Paul Lincoln, Ministry of Defence Second Permanent Secretary.

Ministry of Defence: Proof of Identity

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many security passes for his Department have been reported as (a) missing and (b) stolen in the last 12 months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government takes the protection of information extremely seriously and is exploring a number of measures to reduce future losses.. Departments are required to have robust controls in place to manage risk to their assets including data and mobile devices. Security pass losses are reported to the Joint Security Coordination Centre and recorded on the central repository for Defence security incidents. All security incidents are fully investigated so that the impact can be assessed and mitigated, root cause determined and lessons identified. Any security pass reported as lost is immediately deactivated. Approximately 250,000 personnel are employed across the breadth of Defence and in the last 12 months the Department has lost 3,531 passes and had 285 stolen.

LGBT Veterans Independent Review

Dame Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the LGBT Veterans Independent Review.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government has accepted in principle the all the LGBT Veterans Independent Review's recommendations. Whilst we agree with the intent behind them, there are a number we will deliver in a slightly different way to that described in the report. Many of the recommendations are complex and it is vital that we carefully consider their delivery to ensure the best outcomes for those affected. Responding to the LGBT Veterans Independent Review and delivering its recommendations remains a high priority for the Government. Further detail on the delivery of the recommendations will be included in our full response, which will be published shortly. In the meantime, the Government encourages anyone that was impacted by the historic policy to explore the support, services, and restorative measures available to Veterans, by visiting the LGBT Veterans: Support and next steps GOV.UK page.

Shipbuilding: Devolution

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings the Minister for Defence Procurement has had with the devolved Administrations to discuss the Refresh to the National Shipbuilding Strategy since his appointment; and on what dates those meetings took place.

James Cartlidge: Responsibility for engaging the Devolved Administrations is principally a matter for Ministry of Defence’s Lords Minister, currently the Earl of Minto. His predecessor, Baroness Goldie, regularly engaged with the Devolved Administrations on a range of issues including the National Shipbuilding Strategy and that the current incumbent will endeavour to engage where relevant in the future. Whilst Defence is a reserved issue, I engage regularly with a range of different stakeholders in all parts of the Union. For example, to date I have held SME forums in Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as visited key Defence assets in Scotland.

Skynet: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the budget for SKYNET 6 has been spent as of 4 December 2023.

James Cartlidge: As of 4 December 2023, £1,164 million (13%) of the SKYNET 6 budget has been spent.

Shipping: Skilled Workers

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with the shipbuilding industry on ensuring it has an adequate skilled workforce to meet the policy priorities of his Department.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage the recruitment of skilled workers to the defence shipbuilding sector.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage (a) apprenticeships and (b) other forms of skills training within the shipbuilding sector of the defence industry.

James Cartlidge: As identified in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, the independent UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce (UKSST) was established to work across government, the Devolved Administrations, industry and training providers to develop and publish a future-focussed skills strategy for both Defence and the broader shipbuilding enterprise. The Taskforce published its recommendations on Monday 11 September in a report called "A Step Change in UK Shipbuilding Skills", and the government will publish a formal response to this in the New Year. I have also discussed maritime skills with a number a number of UK Defence primes.

Shipbuilding: Contracts

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to reduce the administrative impact of bidding for Government contracts on the UK shipbuilding sector within the defence industry.

James Cartlidge: The Department has taken active steps to reduce the administrative impact on the UK shipbuilding sector and has significantly reduced tender process times on recent programmes and taken other active steps to support the industry. Both the MOD and the National Shipbuilding Office will continue to explore ways to further reduce the administrative burden including for Small and Medium Enterprises.

Veterans: Identity Cards

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans ID Cards have been delivered to UK veterans as part of phase 2 of that scheme as of 4 December 2023.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Since the summer we have engaged with thousands of veterans to test the service and to date,500 veterans ID cards have been dispatched as part of phase 2 of the Veteran Card Scheme. We aim to produce and dispatch thousands of cards for pre-2018 veterans by the end of 2023. Depending on the volume of applications received, we expect production to increase over the course of 2024 towards a maximum output capacity of around 50,000 cards per month. The service will remain live for pre-2018 veterans who want a card and cards will continue to be issued automatically to Service leavers. Details of when veterans will be able to apply for a card will be issued in due course.

Israel: RAF Akrotiri

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2023 to Question 3359 on Israel: RAF Akrotiri, what military actions Allies inform the Government of; and what actions by Allies the Government informs Parliament of.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2023 to Question 3359 on Israel: RAF Akrotiri, whether his Department is fully informed of US military operations at RAF Akrotiri.

James Heappey: It is standard practice for the UK to routinely authorise requests for limited numbers of allies and partners to access the UK’s air bases. While the Ministry of Defence does not offer comment on Allies’ operations, all parties’ use of UK bases must be in line with international law obligations.

Shipbuilding: Small Businesses and Social Enterprises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 35 of the paper entitled Refresh to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, published in March 2022, what steps his Department has taken to help (a) SMEs and (b) social enterprises to demonstrate the full extent of the value they can generate.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage the involvement of SMEs within the shipbuilding sector of the defence industry.

James Cartlidge: We recognise that SMEs and social enterprises make a significant contribution to the defence supply chain, including shipbuilding. The National Shipbuilding Strategy has introduced a number of policy objectives which include creating opportunities for UK suppliers where possible, furthering the opportunities available to SMEs within the sector. In addition, the Ministry of Defence published its SME Action Plan in 2022 outlining specific commitments to improve engagement with smaller businesses including improving visibility of opportunities and simplifying our procurement approach. We are also encouraging our major suppliers to publish their own sub-contract opportunities through the Defence Sourcing Portal, making it easier for SMEs to find and bid in for defence work.

Veterans: Radiation Exposure

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) veterans and (b) next of kin have (i) applied and (ii) been approved to receive a Nuclear Test Medal.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of (a) veterans and (b) next of kin who applied to receive a Nuclear Test Medal were rejected.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The following table shows the number of Nuclear Test Medal applications received and approved from veterans or next of kin as at 4 December 2023.  VeteransNext of KinTotalApplications received2,3451,5673,912Applications approved1,2292,0893,318 As at 4 December 2023, no Nuclear Test Medal applications have been rejected whereby either the veteran, or the deceased former Service person, has been deemed ineligible for the Nuclear Test Medal. There are cases whereby further investigations are required to determine whether there is any official documentation held that can validate entitlement to the Nuclear Test Medal, as it was not apparent on the individual’s Service record. If evidence cannot be located, then there will be cases that result in a rejection against the qualifying criteria.

Armed Forces: Religion

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish a breakdown by religion or belief of personnel serving in the armed forces.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The requested information is published in the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index. Specifically, tables 4 and 18 of the supporting datasheets provide information on the religion of, respectively, UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020.

Armed Forces: Complaints

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to  JSP 763, The MOD Harassment Complaints Procedure, and JSP 831, Redress of Individual Grievances: Service Complaints, how many complaints on grounds of religion or belief have been made in each of the last five calendar years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Members Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Ministry of Defence: Religious Practice

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many dedicated areas are there for multi faith worship across the defence estate.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which military bases (a) have and (b) do not have a dedicated area for multi faith worship; and how many such areas there are on each base.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence: Supply Chains

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen the resilience of the defence supply chain.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently working to operationalise the Defence Supply Chain Strategy and the wider strategic supply chain commitments made by the MOD since 2020 and more recently in the Defence Command Paper. This includes designing resilience into future supply chains from the outset, developing a closer and more collaborative relationship with industry on supply chain design, and improving analysis and monitoring to allow for the rapid implementation of interventions to tackle risks when they arise.

Shipbuilding: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has set targets for the export of UK-built ships over the next five years.

James Cartlidge: The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh set an ambition to increase shipbuilding, boat building and marine engineering exports by 45% by 2030.

Military Bases: Concrete

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2023 to Question 3708 on Military Bases: Concrete, how many buildings in which an initial survey for RAAC was completed were (a) found to contain RAAC and (b) have been deemed to require additional surveying.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 October 2023 to Question 197591 to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Mr Luke Pollard)Defence Buildings (docx, 15.1KB)

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Databases

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what anonymisation process her Department plans to use for the federated data platform.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Palantir: Databases

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which sites have piloted Palantir software.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Obesity: Children

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of childhood obesity levels in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle childhood obesity in each of those areas.

Andrea Leadsom: The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old (Reception) and 10 to 11 years old (Year 6). The following table shows data from the NCMP on the percentage of children living with obesity in Reception and Year 6 in the academic year 2022-23. Data is not available at Parliamentary constituency level but is available at local authority and regional levels: AreaReception (%)Year 6 (%)Enfield10.828.0London9.324.8 Local authorities and the National Health Service provide weight management services to support children and families to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. Local authorities can fund behavioural weight management services from their Public Health Grant. In England, new regulations on out-of-home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes, and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online came into force in October 2022. The location restrictions are the single most impactful obesity policy in reducing children’s calorie consumption and are expected to accrue health benefits of over £57 billion and provide savings to the NHS of over £4 billion over the next 25 years. We are also working with the food industry to make further progress on reformulation and ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices. We have seen important successes including the average sugar content of drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy decreasing by 46% between 2015 and 2020. There has also been success in some categories of the sugar reduction programme, including a 14.9% reduction of sugar in retailer- and manufacturer-branded breakfast cereals and a 13.5% reduction in yogurts and fromage frais.

Swine Flu: Disease Control

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the spread of the new swine flu strain in humans.

Maria Caulfield: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is monitoring the situation closely and is taking steps to increase surveillance within existing programmes involving general practice surgeries and hospitals in parts of North Yorkshire. UKHSA and partner organisations are tracing contacts of the case in Yorkshire and offering testing and encouraging anyone who is contacted to take a test.

Primary Health Care: Transgender People

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of moving gender transition-related healthcare into primary care.

Maria Caulfield: Children and adults experiencing gender incongruence require specialist support. NHS England's gender identity services are specialised services, due to the specific clinical expertise required to effectively support people experiencing gender incongruence. The Royal College of General Practitioners has published its advice on this matter, saying that general practitioners (GPs) are not experienced in treating and managing gender dysphoria, noting that is not part of GP training nor part of the GP curriculum.

Gender Dysphoria: Children and Young People

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for specialist gender identity services for children and young people.

Maria Caulfield: Earlier this year, NHS England announced that the children’s gender identity services provider, GIDS Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, will be brought to a managed close, and replaced by two new Southern and Northern hubs led by five NHS Trusts, which are set to be fully mobilised by April 2024. NHS England plans for there to be a total of seven or eight regional providers supported by a larger clinical workforce once the national transformation programme is complete. This expansion of services will provide improved, more local care to patients, and reduce waiting times for these services.

Gender Dysphoria: Health Services

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for gender dysphoria treatment.

Maria Caulfield: It is important that transgender people can access the care they need when they need it. NHS England has increased investment by approximately 130% over the past five years and increased the number of Gender Dysphoria Clinics in England from seven to 12 with the rollout of five new adult gender pilot clinics since July 2020.NHS England is also taking steps to grow the historically small pool of specialist clinicians working in this field. The United Kingdom’s first accredited post-graduate training credential in gender medicine overseen by the Royal College of Physicians was established in 2020. There is also funding for individual fellowships available for surgeons who want to train in gender reassignment surgery.

Mental Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the compatibility of different international mental health screening measures with existing procedures for mental health patients.

Maria Caulfield: There are currently no plans for such an assessment.

Mental Illness

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to measure trends in the level of mental health conditions; and what data she is collecting to (a) assess current levels and (b) help anticipate future prevalence of mental health conditions.

Maria Caulfield: The Mental Health of Children and Young People survey series provides data on trends in child mental health. Major surveys were carried out in 1999, 2004 and 2017. In response to COVID-19, the Department commissioned follow-up waves in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to better understand the impact the pandemic has had on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.The Adult Psychiatry Morbidity Survey provides data on the prevalence of adult mental health conditions in the England adult population. Previous surveys were conducted in 1993, 2000, 2007 and the latest published one is 2014. Fieldwork for the next survey is underway, with reporting scheduled for 2025.

Swine Flu

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress he has made on investigation of the human case of influenza A(H1N2)v.

Maria Caulfield: Since the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified a confirmed case of influenza A(H1N2)v, surveillance has been increased in parts of Northern Yorkshire, including expanding monitoring programmes in primary care and hospitals.UKHSA and partner organisations are tracing contacts of the case and are offering testing. The source of their infection has not yet been ascertained. The individual concerned experienced a mild illness and has fully recovered.

Edenfield Centre

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timeframe is for a decision on whether there will be a public inquiry relating to the Edenfield Centre.

Maria Caulfield: In November 2022, NHS England announced an independent review into the unacceptable incidents which took place at the Edenfield Centre at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust last year. The independent review team has met with over 400 people and has submitted its draft report to NHS England, the trust, and other relevant parties. Publication of the investigation’s final report is expected in early January 2024. We will carefully consider the report’s findings before deciding what, if any, next steps may be needed.More widely, we are working with the newly established Health Services Safety Investigations Body to prepare for the launch of a series of investigations into mental health inpatient care settings in England to identify where improvements can be made, increase the quality of care and reduce the risk to patient safety.

Respiratory Diseases: Electronic Cigarettes

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of hospital admissions there have been as a result of lung injuries related to e-cigarette or vaping product usage in each of the last 10 years.

Andrea Leadsom: The number of hospital admissions due to vaping in England for the past three years can be viewed through recently reported National Health Service data, which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2023/hospital-admissions-for-vaping-related-disordersPlease note that admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period, and figures from 2022 to 2023 are provisional.We continue to monitor the adverse drug reactions to vapes through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Yellow Card reporting system.

Hepatitis: Health Services

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) appointing a hepatitis B virus (HBV) elimination programme national clinical lead and (b) establishing a national register for monitoring HBV diagnoses and treatment uptake.

Maria Caulfield: Management of care for patients with Hepatitis B (HBV) is the responsibility of integrated care boards. Therefore, NHS England Specialised Commissioning does not have plans to appoint a national clinical lead for Hepatitis B elimination specifically. At a national level, the UK Health Security Agency is prioritising a programme of work to reduce the harmful impact of Hepatitis B to health.NHS England is identifying opportunities to build on the successful programme to eliminate Hepatitis C. This includes ensuring that the Emergency Department opt-out testing programme includes testing for Hepatitis B, as well as HIV and Hepatitis C.As England has signed up as a pilot country for the World Health Organisation (WHO) to assess progress to HBV elimination, monitoring of HBV in England aligns to WHO programme targets. These include increasing the proportion of people living with HBV who are diagnosed and aware of their infection, and increasing the proportion of people living with HBV who are receiving treatment.

Integrated Care Boards: Dentistry

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of representation of dentists on regional Integrated Care Boards.

Andrea Leadsom: Information is not held centrally on the members of integrated care boards (ICBs), including the level of representation by dentists.From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all ICBs across England. This included the transfer of all funding, Units of Dental Activity and the management responsibility for National Health Service dentistry. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.NHS England has published implementation guidance on effective clinical and care professional leadership within ICBs, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/B0664-ics-clinical-and-care-professional-leadership.pdfAs part of the development of local frameworks and wider governance arrangements, system leaders were asked to commit that they ensured that the full range of clinical and professional leaders from diverse backgrounds are integrated into system decision-making at all levels.

Mental Health Services: Pregnancy

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the £100 million funding from the Start for Life Programme to support (a) perinatal mental health and (b) parent-infant relationships has been (i) distributed and (ii) spent as of 27 November 2023.

Andrea Leadsom: Of the £100 million, £92.8 million is being distributed to 75 local authorities in England participating in the Programme over the three years from 2022/23 to 2024/25. Local authorities determine the specific interventions they spend their funding allocation on in line with the programme guide and local area need. The grant determination letters detail how much each local authority received and outline the breakdown of funding by programme strands. The letters are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-section-31-grant-determination-lettersThe remaining funding has been held centrally to deliver a series of national initiatives which will support local delivery, including training programmes for evidence-based parent-infant relationship interventions and access to high-quality clinical supervision for practitioners.

Dental Services: East Sussex

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to NHS dental services in (a) Brighton, Kemptown constituency, (b) the City of Brighton and Hove and (c) Lewes District.

Andrea Leadsom: In July 2022 we announced a package of reforms to improve access to National Health Service dentistry across England, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health need and increase access to dental care in England. The changes that have been implemented include improvements to ensure dentists are remunerated more fairly for more complex work and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value. NHS dental activity as measured by Courses of Treatments delivered has increased by 23% nationally between 2021/22 and 2022/23.From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment and have access to regular data which will support them in their plans to improve access to NHS dentistry in their area.The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32.But we know we need to do more, and that there are some areas where access is particularly problematic. We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.

Naloxone

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress her Department has made on implementing recommendation (a) five, (b) six and (c) seven in the report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs entitled Review of the UK Naloxone Implementation: Availability and Use of Naloxone to Prevent Opioid-Related Deaths, published on 17 June 2022.

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of overdoses that were (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully reversed with Naloxone in each year since 2010.

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of supplying Naloxone to the NHS.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government has responded to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and agrees with recommendations five, six and seven in the report entitled Review of the UK Naloxone Implementation. As part of the Government’s ambition to reduce drug-related deaths, we recognise the benefits of more services and professionals being able to supply naloxone without a prescription. The Department in partnership with the devolved administrations consulted on this issue in 2021. Following this, the Department is working closely with the devolved administrations on options to increase availability of naloxone without a prescription. This includes possible amendments to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to enable more services and professionals to be able to supply take-home naloxone, under powers in the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021. The department will provide a full response to the consultation in due course.The Department cannot make an estimate of the number and proportion of overdoses that were successfully and unsuccessfully reversed with Naloxone in each year since 2010 as this data is not held centrally. There are currently no plans to make an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of supplying Naloxone to the National Health Service.

Dental Services

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care during the Westminster Hall debate on Healthcare Services: Carshalton and Wallington on 23 May 2023, Official Report, Column 71WH, what progress her Department has made on producing a radical dentistry plan.

Andrea Leadsom: We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make National Health Service work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.Our Dentistry Recovery Plan will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022, which included changes to banding and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value. Our plan will include addressing how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver NHS care.

Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Children

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of how many (a) e-cigarette and (b) tobacco products were sold (i) online and (ii) online to people underage in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: It is an offence to sell tobacco and vapes to children under 18. The Government is committed to tackling underage sales, including online.Whilst we do not hold the information requested, a Chartered Trading Standards Institute survey showed that from 2019 to 2020, of the councils who undertook test purchasing, 50% reported that cigarettes or tobacco products were sold to people who were underage in at least one premise. Similarly in 2022 to 2023, National Trading Standards identified that 27% of the 1,000 vape test purchases carried out with retailers resulted in an illegal sale.We will introduce legislation, namely the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, in this parliamentary session to strengthen our enforcement activity, through new powers to fine rogue retailers. We have also committed to enhance online age verification to stop underage sales of tobacco products and vapes online.

Tobacco: Sales

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support she plans to provide to help retailer workers implement a generational ban on the sale of cigarettes.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation. This, alongside regular engagement with the retail sector, will help to shape the proposals and ensure we provide support to retail workers to implement the future legislation.We are also providing £5 million this year and £15 million thereafter to support new national marketing campaigns. These campaigns will help to explain the legal changes of the smokefree generation, and prepare the public, retailers, and other relevant stakeholders for the future changes.

Electronic Cigarettes: Eating Disorders

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of e-cigarette use on the risk of developing an eating disorder.

Andrea Leadsom: Research suggests that as with smoking, adolescent vaping is associated with a variety of mental health problems. However, the relationship is not one of simple cause and effect as poor mental health can drive nicotine use while nicotine use can aggravate poor mental health.The Government is already funding, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Eating Disorders Genetic Initiative study, jointly led with Kings College London and eating disorder charity, Beat, which aims to better understand what may lead to an eating disorder and how to improve treatments aimed at improving the lives of patients.

Smoking

Mr Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with the Government of New Zealand on the proposed generational ban on smoking.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation.In development of this policy, we have, and will continue to, speak to a range of stakeholders including in the public health community both in the UK and globally, and government officials in countries such as New Zealand.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Waiting Lists

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of patients with suspected (a) Crohn’s disease and (b) ulcerative colitis waiting over 18 weeks to receive a diagnosis.

Andrew Stephenson: Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. We are making progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.Diagnostic checks are a key part of many elective care pathways. Our ambition is that 95% of patients needing a diagnostic check receive it within six weeks by March 2025. We are working together with NHS England to increase diagnostic capacity as quickly as possible, including for patients with suspected Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, through the continued rollout of community diagnostic centres (CDCs).As of November 2023, there are 136 CDCs currently operational that have delivered over five million additional tests since July 2021.In addition, the Getting it Right First Time programme has launched a set of ‘Further, Faster’ pilots in July to support groups of trusts to accelerate progress on outpatient transformation, including gastroenterology. The pilots aim to accelerate service transformation across a range of specialities. Within gastroenterology, the pilots are driving forward interventions such as the introduction of Patient Initiated Follow Up, which can be beneficial for patients with chronic conditions like inflammatory bowel disease.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Drugs

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle shortages in ADHD medications.

Andrew Stephenson: We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to medicines for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United Kingdom, in the short and long term. We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients whilst there continue to be disruptions to supplies. Patients are advised to speak to their clinician regarding any concerns they have and to discuss the suitability of treatment with alternative medicines. Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of ADHD have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working closely with the respective manufacturers and some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, which should resolve by April 2024.

Autism: Diagnosis

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for autism assessments (a) nationally and (b) in County Durham.

Maria Caulfield: We expect integrated care boards (ICBs) to have due regard to relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on autism when commissioning services. It is the responsibility of ICBs to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, in line with these NICE guidelines.Each ICB in England, including in the North East and North Cumbria, is expected to have an Executive Lead for learning disability and autism, supporting the board in planning to meet the needs of its local population of people with a learning disability and autistic people, including in relation to appropriate autism assessment pathways. NHS England has published guidance on these roles.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. This guidance will help the National Health Service improve autism assessment pathways and improve the experience for people referred to an autism assessment service.In addition, NHS England publish quarterly data on how many people are waiting for an autism assessment and for how long. These are experimental statistics; however, the data does provide useful information nationally and locally to support local areas to improve their performance and to reduce assessment waiting times.We have invested in improving autism assessment services over recent years. Building on the 2021/22 investment of £13 million, we invested £2.5 million in 2022/23 to support local areas with improvements in autism assessment pathways. In 2023/2024, £4.2 million of funding is available across England to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) expenditure limit and (b) actual spend was for agency staffing spend for each NHS (i) integrated care system, (ii) trust and (iii) foundation in the 2022-23 financial year; and what the expenditure limit will be for each organisation in the 2023-24 financial year.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England does not set limits by trusts, but rather by systems. The attached table lists the system agency expenditure limits for 2022/23 and 2023/24.NHS England re-established agency expenditure limits for systems in September 2022. The limits set for 2022/23 require at least a 10% reduction compared to the previous year in line with provider plans. Limits in 2023/24 have been set with the ambition of reducing total agency expenditure by trusts (in aggregate) to 3.7% of the total estimated National Health Service pay bill.Agency spend data in 2022/23 is not yet available. Provider financial accounts for 2022/23, including data on agency spending, is currently being audited and will be published in due course.Agency expenditure limits  (xlsx, 18.1KB)

Respiratory Diseases: Health Services

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the impact of Acute Respiratory Infection hubs on (a) GP appointments and (b) emergency department attendance levels since their creation.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Acute Respiratory Infection hubs were operating in winter 2022-23; and how many are planned to be operating in winter 2023-24.

Andrew Stephenson: During winter 2022/23, 363 Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) hubs were implemented by systems. There is no central target on ARI hubs for 2023/24 and for local systems to implement and decide where and how many as part of their plans locally this winter. Evaluations from NHS England suggest that ARI hubs may save general practitioner appointments and accident and emergency attendances.

Brain: Tumours

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to help improve collaboration between researchers and healthcare providers to help increase the efficiency of brain tumour clinical trials.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government has set out a vision for the Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery which aims to create a research-positive culture in which all health and care staff feel empowered to support and participate in clinical research, this together with the Government response to the O’Shaughnessy review backed by up to £121 million, will improve how research is embedded in the National Health Service, make it a more attractive place to conduct clinical research and improve the speed of commercial clinical trials. More information on the vision is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-of-uk-clinical-research-delivery/saving-and-improving-lives-the-future-of-uk-clinical-research-delivery The Department-funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) supports delivery of the vision through investment in research and infrastructure across a range of clinical areas, including brain tumour research. The Department-funded NIHR Biomedical Research Centres are an NIHR infrastructure scheme which provides support for experimental medicine research, including six centres which conduct brain tumour research.

Air Pollution: Greater London

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 May 2023 to Question 183644 on Air Pollution: Greater London, whether the estimate for the number of deaths attributable to PM2.5 includes deaths attributed to covid-19 in the period between 2018 and 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution indicator, measured as PM2.5, represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and over attributed to PM2.5. As the 2020 data for this indicator includes the period from March 2020 onwards, the mortality data used in its calculation will reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, attributable fractions in this period should be interpreted with caution.

Domestic Abuse

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that healthcare professionals undertake training on domestic abuse delivered by specialist organisations.

Maria Caulfield: All National Health Service staff undertake mandatory safeguarding training which includes a focus on domestic abuse.The Health and Care Act 2022 requires integrated care boards (ICBs) and their partner trusts to prepare a Joint Forward Plan (JFP). JFPs must set out how ICBs intend to address the particular needs of victims of abuse; this includes domestic abuse. The JFP also provides an opportunity for ICBs to demonstrate how they will work with multi-agency partners, including utilising established relationships through integrated care partnerships, which include specialist voluntary sector organisations, to address the needs of victims of abuse.

Drugs: Misuse and Mental Illness

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of hospital admissions for (a) drug related and (b) behavioral mental disorders in the last 12 months.

Maria Caulfield: Data showing the number of hospital admissions for behavioural mental disorders cannot be provided as it is not collected in that format. NHS England has advised that there is no clear distinction within the data codes for what is classified as mental disorders or behavioural mental disorders.The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of a drug-related mental disorder between April 2022 and March 2023, based on activity in English National Health Service hospitals and NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector:Diagnosis descriptionPrimary diagnosisSecondary diagnosisMental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol33,563225,549Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of opioids56430,532Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids76232,811Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of sedatives or hypnotics1872,366Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cocaine49411,588Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of other stimulants, including caffeine2551,724Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of hallucinogens51492Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of tobacco5571,253,007Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of volatile solvents36514Mental and behavioural disorders due to multiple drug use and use of other psychoactive substances2,23917,571Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS EnglandNotes:NHS England has advised that admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have had more than one admission within the period and an episode may be counted in more than one category.

Domestic Abuse: Children

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure specialist support is available to children with mental health needs who are victims of domestic abuse.

Maria Caulfield: We are investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year in expanding and transforming mental health services in the National Health Service by March 2024 compared to 2018/19. As part of this, an extra 345,000 more children and young people, including those who are victims of domestic abuse will be able to get the NHS-funded mental health support they need.We are also continuing the rollout of mental health support teams to schools and colleges in England. While these teams deliver interventions for mild to moderate mental health issues, they can also liaise with external specialist services to help pupils get the right support. There are currently around 400 mental health support teams in place, covering over three million children, which is approximately 35% of pupils, and we are working to increase this coverage to 50% of pupils by March 2025.

Skin Diseases: Mental Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support patients with inflammatory skin conditions to manage the impact of that condition on their mental health.

Maria Caulfield: The Government is committed to supporting everyone’s mental health and wellbeing and ensuring that the right support is in place, including for those with long term physical health conditions such as inflammatory skin conditions.We have made it clear to local commissioners that we expect NHS talking therapies to be integrated into physical healthcare pathways. Our NHS Long Term Plan commits to an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion of mental health services by 2024, so that an additional two million people can access National Health Service-funded mental health support.

Health Services: Disability

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that NHS providers comply with the Accessible Information Standard.

Maria Caulfield: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Crawley on 1 December 2023 to Question 2857.

Health Services: Disability

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS England plans to publish the revised Accessible Information Standard.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England remains committed to publishing the revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) as soon as possible. Work is underway to ensure that, when published, the AIS and supporting documentation are available in accessible formats.

Mental Health Services: Chipping Barnet

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's press release Earlier mental health support announced for thousands nationwide, published on 25 October 2023, how much of the £2.3 billion of additional funding for mental health services in England will be spent on mental health services for residents of Chipping Barnet constituency.

Maria Caulfield: It is for individual local commissioners to allocate funding to mental health services to meet the needs of their local populations and this information is not collected centrally or at constituency level. Integrated care boards are expected to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.

Autism: Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has provided for the expansion of autism services in Wandsworth in the last 12 months.

Maria Caulfield: Information is not held centrally on funding for the expansion of autism services in Wandsworth. South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB) has been allocated £107,000 in 2023/24 from the national £4.2 million service development funding for autism, to improve the local autism assessment pathway for children and young people and to continue the Autism in Schools Programme. In 2022/23 the ICB received £97,000 from the broader £2.5 million service development funding for autism, to improve the local autism assessment pathway.These service development funding allocations are in addition to the funding that South West London ICB spends on autism services from its core funding allocations.

Joint Replacements: Waiting Lists

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle backlogs in joint replacement surgery.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to prioritise elective recovery for people with (a) arthritis and (b) musculoskeletal conditions.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Elective recovery taskforce: implementation plan, published by her Department on 4 August 2023, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure elective recovery remains a key priority for those with (a) arthritis and (b) musculoskeletal conditions.

Andrew Stephenson: Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. The National Health Service is prioritising urgent and cancer care and will continue to do its best to maintain appointments and elective services wherever possible, including joint replacement surgery and musculoskeletal services. 18-month waits for trauma and orthopaedic services have been reduced by more than 92% since September 2021.Additionally, we are transforming the way the NHS provides elective care by increasing activity through dedicated and protected surgical hubs. This is focused on providing high volume low complexity surgery in six high volume specialties, which includes trauma and orthopaedics including joint replacement surgery, as well as other elective treatment areas such as ophthalmology, general surgery, gynaecology, Ear Nose and Throat, and urology.94 of these such hubs are open currently, and through capital investment announced at 2021 Spending Review, the NHS plans to have 132 such centres open by March 2025.

Midwives

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the age profile of the NHS midwifery workforce for (a) November 2023 and (b) each November since 2013.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the age profile of midwives leaving NHS employment in (a) November 2023 and (b) each November since 2013.

Andrew Stephenson: The information requested is shown in the attached tables.Age profile of workforce  (docx, 24.1KB)

Dentistry and Doctors: Ukraine

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to enable (a) doctors and (b) dentists from Ukraine to practice in the UK.

Andrew Stephenson: The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors in the United Kingdom. The GMC has introduced several measures to support applications from Ukraine including waiving application fees and working with applicants to source documents. Information about these measures is available at the following link:https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/before-you-apply/help-for-refugee-doctorsThe General Dental Council (GDC) is responsible for regulating dentistry qualifications and additions to the UK dental register. The GDC has advised that it is keen to support refugees with their registration applications wherever possible. Dedicated information for refugees is available at the following link:https://www.gdc-uk.org/registration/join-the-register/information-for-refugee-dental-professionals

NHS: Databases

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the value for money of the Federated Data Platform contract and (b) the extent to which FDP procurement complies with the guidance entitled Managing public money.

Andrew Stephenson: The Federated Data Platform (FDP) business case includes an assessment of the investment, the benefits anticipated, and the return of investment anticipated over the lifetime of the programme. Benefits are provided for cash, non-cash, and societal benefits and throughout the approval process were assessed by several independent assessors from both NHS England, the Department and other Government departments to ensure that investments provide value. The FDP is a Tier A Government Major Projects Portfolio programme and therefore will be required to report on the return on investment and benefits realised throughout the lifetime of the programme, to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.NHS England has conducted a fair, open, and transparent procurement in line with Public Contracts Regulations 2015. They used the Competitive Dialogue Process, which is in line with both Cabinet Office guidance and HM Treasury guidance Managing Public Money. This process was open for any supplier to participate, subject to passing the standard selection criteria and minimum requirements. All bids were evaluated against the same objective evaluation criteria and scoring methodology which was shared with all suppliers. The evaluation criteria were developed to mitigate against unfair incumbent advantage. Over 30 independent evaluators were selected from across the National Health Service with a range of skills and experience relevant to the question they were evaluating.

Orthopaedics: Waiting Lists

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support her Department provides to people who are waiting for (a) trauma, (b) joint replacement and (c) other orthopaedic treatment who have to give up their jobs until they receive that treatment.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support her Department provides to people who are waiting for (a) trauma, (b) joint replacement and (c) other orthopaedic treatment who are unable to live independently until they receive that treatment.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 20 February 2023 to Question 143688 on Orthopaedics: Surgery, if she will make an assessment of the potential (a) economic impact of delays in orthopaedic surgery and (b) impact of such delays on people with arthritis.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is taking steps with NHS England to support people waiting for appointments and surgery for long-term conditions, including in trauma and orthopaedics, by offering online support, increasing elective capacity, and encouraging personalised support.As set out in its elective recovery delivery plan, the National Health Service is increasing elective capacity and improving patient pathways to reduce avoidable delays in care. This includes funding new surgical hubs and expanding those already in operation to increase elective capacity and improve treatment waiting times for patients with long-term conditions. Through improvements to patient pathways, there will be greater end-to-end support, including help to prevent patients sustaining secondary injuries.In addition, NHS England is developing further guidance to support local health systems to provide personalised and targeted support for patients and their carers, to help them manage their symptoms, prevent deterioration, and recover effectively from treatment.NHS England launched the My Planned Care platform in February 2022, giving patients advice and support to manage their health and avoid significant deterioration of symptoms whilst they wait for appointments. This online platform includes advice on movement, medication, and mental health.

Health Services

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter from Lord Markham, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, to the Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, dated 30 August 2023, which are the 36 NHS trusts said in that letter to be participating in NHS England’s pilot programmes on improving elective care coordination for patients and care coordination solution.

Andrew Stephenson: Thirty-nine trusts signed Memoranda of Understanding indicating their intention to participate in the Improving Elective Care Co-ordination for Patients (IECCP) programme. 35 trusts are currently actively participating, with four trusts having withdrawn.NHS England’s programmes also include the Optimised Patient Tracking and Intelligent Choices Application (OPTICA) pilot. OPTICA drives an efficient, shared way of working for health and social care teams, providing intelligence to help care teams properly plan for timely discharges.The following table shows the 42 trusts actively participating in one or both of NHS England’s Pilot Programmes:TrustIECCPOPTICABarts Health NHS TrustX Bolton NHS Foundation TrustX Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation TrustXXChesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation TrustXXCountess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation TrustXXCounty Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust XCroydon Health Services NHS TrustX East Suffolk and North East Essex NHS Foundation TrustX East Essex Healthcare NHS TrustX Gateshead Health NHS Foundation TrustXXGreat Western Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustX Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustX Harrogate & District NHS Foundation Trust XHull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust XImperial College Healthcare NHS TrustXXJames Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust XKingston Hospital NHS Foundation TrustX Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation TrustX Lewisham and Greenwich NHS TrustX Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust XLondon North West University Healthcare NHS TrustXXMedway NHS Foundation TrustX Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustXXNorfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust XNorth Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation TrustX North Tees and Hartlepool Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustXXNorthampton General Hospital NHS TrustX Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation TrustX Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Foundation Trust XRoyal Cornwall Hospitals NHS TrustX Royal Surrey NHS Foundation TrustX Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation TrustX Salisbury NHS Foundation TrustX Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS TrustX South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustXXSouth Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation TrustXXThe Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustXXUnited Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS TrustX University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation TrustXXUniversity Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation TrustX University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS TrustX West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustX

NHS: Databases

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care to the Chair of the Health and Social Care on NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) dated 30 August 2023, what the benefits are for each trust participating in the FDP pilot programme.

Andrew Stephenson: The Federated Data Platform will improve outcomes by bringing together the information needed to plan and deliver care and reduce administrative burden on staff. Pilot sites have seen the removal of patients from waiting lists and waiting times fall, meaning patients are treated faster; discharge delays have been reduced, enabling patients to leave hospital and get home sooner; and people have waited for less time to receive a diagnosis. Following are examples of benefits that have been reported within the Improving Elective Care Co-ordination for Patients (IECCP) and Optimised Patient Tracking and Intelligent Choices Application (OPTICA) pilots.For IECCP, across trusts realising benefits, a total of 55,521 patients have been requested for removal from waitlists. There has also been a 5.7% increase in theatre utilisation per month on average compared to the six-month period before the pilot.For OPTICA, following the implementation of the pilot in one trust, the trust realised a number of benefits including a 36% decrease in the average number of days patients are delayed from being discharged, for patients with a length of stay of 21 or more days, and a 22% reduction in average length of stay of pathway 0 patients, who do not need health support on discharge, freeing up capacity for the trust to care for patients with more complex needs.

NHS: Databases

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who will own the intellectual property for the Federated Data Platform.

Andrew Stephenson: The supplier will continue to own the intellectual property right to its core Software as a Service (SaaS) and will grant NHS England and National Health Service organisations the right to use the software for the contract term. This will also include updates and amendments to the SaaS product or any additional third-party software that forms part of the contracted SaaS product.Any products commissioned by NHS England or other NHS organisations delivered by the supplier outside of their standard SaaS product offering will be owned by NHS England. NHS England may grant the supplier the right to use the component for the contract term as necessary for service provision.NHS England or the NHS organisation will retain all ownership and rights to all data contained within the platform and at no time do the rights to use this data transfer to the supplier. The supplier will have no rights to the data whether or not such data is personal data.

Home Office

Slavery: Car Washes

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visits his Department has made to car washes in Sheffield to investigate modern slavery in the last five years.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made for modern slavery in connection with car washes in the last five years.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many modern slavery referrals have been made in connection with car washes in the last five years in Sheffield.

Laura Farris: The Government takes reports of labour exploitation and illegal working practices very seriously, including in the car wash sector.The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales, as part of the annual “Police Powers and Procedures: Stop and search and arrests” statistical bulletin, available here: Stop and search and arrests, year ending March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Statistics on arrests for modern slavery in connection with labour sectors, such as car washes, are not systematically collected or recorded.Statistics on modern slavery exploitation sub-types are not currently systematically collected by the National Referral Mechanism, and are only recorded under broad exploitation categories (for example, labour, criminal, sexual). The Home Office funds the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which has specially trained officers with police-style powers to prevent, detect and investigate serious labour exploitation across the entire economy in England and Wales.Since 01 January 2018, the GLAA has recorded 27 intelligence reports linked to car washes in Sheffield.

Fraud: Crime Prevention

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1846 on Fraud: Crime Prevention, if he will publish his Department's planned timetable for appointing the Government's new anti-fraud champion.

Tom Tugendhat: Anthony Browne MP will be continuing in his role as Anti-Fraud Champion for the time being.A new Champion will be appointed in due course, following Anthony’s appointment as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport.

Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of retail sector employees on the adequacy of measures to tackle physical assaults in the workplace.

Chris Philp: I regularly co-chair, with the British Retail Consortium, the National Retail Crime Steering Group which brings together Government, trade organisations, representatives of the retail sector and enforcement partners to ensure the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is a partnership approach and as robust as it can be.I have also recently been convening additional meetings with retailers and police, to discuss how we can tackle the issue of retail crime, including assaults.As part of a roundtable with policing and retailers, on 23 October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council launched their Retail Crime Action Plan, which includes a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of retail crime instances where violence has been used; where an offender has been detained; or where evidence needs to be promptly secured and can only be done in person by police personnel.

Arrests: Foreign Nationals

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who were arrested were not UK nationals in each year since 2007.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects and publishes arrests in England and Wales as part of the annual ‘Police Powers and ‘Procedures’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)However, data is not collected on the nationality of the person arrested.

Organised Crime

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has a planned timetable for publishing an updated serious organised crime strategy.

Chris Philp: We will shortly publish the updated Serious and Organised Crime Strategy.

Migrant Workers

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much his Department spent in (a) non-Commonwealth and (b) non-EU countries on (i) security checks and (ii) other support to recruit people to work in the UK in each of the last four years.

Chris Philp: Home Office does not provide a support function to recruit people to work in UK.

Firearms: Licensing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department's working group on firearms licensing fees last met.

Chris Philp: The Fees Working Group last met on 3 May 2023.The Working Group is chaired by the Home Office and includes representation from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, shooting representative bodies, the Countryside Alliance, Scottish Government, and other Government departments.The work includes a detailed review of the current cost to the police of administering firearms licensing in order to develop proposals for revised fees, in accordance with HM Treasury guidance.I am currently considering the proposals for new fees with Ministerial colleagues and I have discussed them with the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Members of Parliament and the NPCC Lead for Firearms Licensing.

Fraud: Crime Prevention

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the section 204(1) of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, what his planned timetable is for publishing that guidance.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office is developing guidance on the new Failure to Prevent Fraud offence in collaboration with industry and key stakeholders to ensure it is a useful tool to help organisations understand how they can implement reasonable fraud prevention measures.We will publish the guidance in 2024.

Hizb ut Tahrir

Simon Fell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to take steps to proscribe Hizb ut Tahrir.

Tom Tugendhat: While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.We are committed to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred within our communities.We have some of the strongest laws in the world to protect our citizens.

Animal Experiments: Licensing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department takes to ensure that an equivalent test is not available without the use of animals before issuing a licence for animal experimentation.

Tom Tugendhat: The use of animals in scientific procedures is only authorised by the Home Office Regulator where there is clear scientific benefit, to people, animals, or the environment, and only when all aspects of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been fulfilled.Licence applicants are required to robustly evidence their consideration of alternative methods. The Regulator reviews all licence applications and will only issue a licence once it is satisfied there are no practicable alternative methods.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Gaza: Children

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of food insecurity for his policies on the health and wellbeing of children in Gaza.

David Rutley: The World Food Programme (WFP) has reported that only 10% of necessary food supplies have entered Gaza since the beginning of the conflict. The UK is increasingly concerned over the growing food insecurity in Gaza. We continue to call for immediate, unimpeded and safe humanitarian access for lifesaving aid to reach civilians including food. The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This funding will help support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in responding to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to support (a) humanitarian access into and (b) adequate levels of fuel entering Gaza.

David Rutley: The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary engage regularly and closely with regional counterparts including Israel and Egypt on the humanitarian response. However, the flow of aid into and through Gaza continues to be insufficient and we are urgently exploring all diplomatic options to increase this, including urging Israel to open other existing land border crossings such as Kerem Shalom. Fuel remains a critical component, without sufficient aid, fuel cannot be distributed by humanitarian organisations and hospitals, bakeries as well as desalination plants cannot operate. We are also actively exploring other routes for aid to get into Gaza. The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This funding will help support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in responding to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help ensure that humanitarian organisations in Gaza are able to reach people in need in the Gaza Strip.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to provide aid agencies with emergency provision to protect civilians in Gaza from malnutrition.

David Rutley: The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary engage regularly and closely with regional counterparts including Israel and Egypt on the humanitarian response. However, the flow of aid into and through Gaza continues to be insufficient and we are urgently exploring all diplomatic options to increase this, including urging Israel to open other existing land border crossings such as Kerem Shalom. Fuel remains a critical component, without sufficient aid, fuel cannot be distributed by humanitarian organisations and hospitals, bakeries as well as desalination plants cannot operate. We are also actively exploring other routes for aid to get into Gaza. The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This funding will help support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in responding to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.

Morocco: Paradise Golf and Beach Resort

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the Paradise Golf and Beach Resort development in Tangiers.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help ensure British citizens recover their investment in the Paradise Golf and Beach Resort development in Tangiers.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he next plans to meet his Moroccan counterpart; and if he will raise the Paradise Gold and Beach Resort development at that meeting.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent progress he has made on the Paradise Golf and Beach Resort development.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department raised the Paradise Golf and Beach Resort development during the fourth session of the Morocco-UK Strategic Dialogue.

David Rutley: The UK remains committed to doing what we can to help British investors who lost their investments in the Paradise Golf & Beach Resort (PGBR) project. The UK continues to raise the issue of PGBR with the Moroccan authorities, both by British Embassy officials and His Majesty's Ambassador to Rabat with the relevant interlocutors in Morocco, and by FCDO officials in the UK with the Moroccan Embassy to the United Kingdom in London, where we encourage the Embassy to engage with British investors to the greatest extent possible.

Gaza: Disease Control and Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he has taken to work with the World Health Organisation to address (a) the rise in disease and (b) other aspects of the health crisis in Gaza.

David Rutley: We maintain regular contact with the World Health Organisation on a full range of issues relating to conflict in Israel and Gaza. We continue to impress upon Israel the need to comply with International Humanitarian Law, minimise civilian casualties and protect civilian infrastructure including medical facilities. The safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most. We strongly condemn all forms of violence and incitement to violence directed towards humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers and we have been consistently clear that everything must be done to protect lives. The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Gaza: British Nationals Abroad

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the criteria of Eligible Persons for evacuation from the Gaza strip to non-British nationals with permission to travel to the UK .

David Rutley: The FCDO are making attempts across multiple channels to keep in touch with the British nationals in Gaza to provide the most accurate advice as to how and when to cross the Rafah Border. The FCDO usually provides consular assistance to British nationals and their non-British national immediate family members, including a spouse, partner, and children under 18, as long as they are travelling with or accompanied by a British national.We are aware of the difficulties affecting those who would like to exit Gaza. We therefore encourage any British national to register their presence via the FCDO's Travel Advice page. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have both repeatedly reinforced the importance of ensuring that all foreign nationals are able to evacuate Gaza safely, as well as ensuring that humanitarian aid urgently reaches those who need it most in Gaza. We are continuing to raise this at the highest levels.

Ethiopia: Armed Conflict

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the response of the Ethiopian Government to the joint statement by the UK, US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand of 11 August 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Our statement called for the immediate de-escalation of violence and for the protection of civilians; we continue to monitor the situation. The Minister for Africa subsequently raised the issue in his meeting with Ethiopian National Security Adviser and the Ambassador raises the issue in all his meetings in Addis Ababa. We urge the Government of Ethiopia to find a political solution to end the violence in the country. We continue to monitor the situation, in concert with others, while maintaining life-saving humanitarian assistance, and the provision of basic services to the people in Amhara affected by conflict.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Consultants

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much his Department has spent on external consultancy fees in each of the last ten years.

David Rutley: FCDO consultancy spend in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-2023 was £2.7 million, £1.4 million and £3.9 million respectively. Total FCO plus DFID spend for years 2019-20, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17 and 2015-16 was £3.0 million, £2.6 milion, £1.3 million, £3.3 million and £2.6 million respectively.The FCDO's E-sourcing system only goes back to 2016 so we are unable to provide data between 2012-13 and 2014-2015.

Kenya: British Nationals Abroad

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the safety of the Ngong Hills area of Kenya for British nationals.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: There is a risk of crime throughout Kenya with incidences of mugging, kidnapping, car-jacking and armed robbery occurring regularly. The risk of crime is particularly high in Nairobi, Mombasa and other large cities but can also occur in other areas including the Ngong Hills. UK travel advice advises British nationals to remain vigilant at all times when travelling in Kenya. We keep our travel advice under constant review.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Agency Workers

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much his Department spent on temporary agency staff in each of the past ten years.

David Rutley: Total temporary agency staff spend for those financial years are in the table below. This information is published in FCDO's Annual Report & Accounts and can be found online.YEAR£mFY20137.68FY20148.10FY20155.56FY20165.03FY20176.34FY20184.09FY20196.66FY202012.01FY202125.68FY202239.58FY202312.43

Department for Business and Trade

Foreign Investment: USA

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the US President’s Executive Order on Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern of 9 August 2023.

Greg Hands: We are reviewing the Presidential Executive Order to consider the impact on the UK and UK businesses and consulting with industry during this time. We understand the US policy remains in a consultative phase following the issuance of the Executive Order. As such, it is still under development.

Small Businesses: Exports

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State of 30 November 2023, Official Report, column 1043, how the £200 million of funding to support small and medium-sized enterprises (a) has been and (b) will be spent.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business and Trade have a range of programmes dedicated to supporting SMEs to grow and export. This includes the UK Export Academy, International Trade Advisors, Help to Grow, the Export Support Service, our growth hubs and Business Support Helpline, we also support through the British Business Bank, including Future Fund: Breakthrough. We are also supporting SMEs to adopt advanced digital technologies through the expansion of our Made Smarter programme; and the setting up of a Digital Adoption Taskforce.

Batteries: Lithium

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help raise public awareness of the safe purchasing of lithium battery products.

Kevin Hollinrake: My Department is working with the Home Office, London Fire Brigade and the National Fire Chiefs Council, to raise awareness on this issue. Through the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), we have been promoting Home Office guidance on safe battery charging practices in the home and we share safety messages via social media. OPSS also recently published a safety notice giving specific advice to consumers. I recently also wrote to major food delivery apps including Uber Eats and Deliveroo, urging them to share important government safety advice on e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries. Existing legislation requires manufactures to provide relevant safety information with their products. OPSS is also seeking assurances from Online Marketplaces on how they ensure consumers have access to instructions on safe use.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: European Patent Convention

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will commission an independent assessment into the compatibility of membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership with membership of the (a) European Patent Office and (b) European Patent Convention.

Greg Hands: The UK has ensured that accession negotiations with CPTPP are consistent with the UK’s interests, the Government’s policies and priorities on intellectual property, and with the UK’s existing international obligations, including the non-EU European Patent Convention (EPC) which establishes the European Patent Office.The UK has not agreed to any provisions that would require us to diverge from the EPC and therefore an independent assessment is not required. With respect to Article 18.38 of the agreement (Grace Period), the UK has agreed with the CPTPP Parties that we will only comply with that article once necessary amendments to the EPC have been made in line with Article 18.38, and not before.

Overseas Investment: China

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her Department's policy is on investment from UK investors in (a) the production of (i) semiconductors and (ii) microelectronics, (b) quantum information technologies and (c) artificial intelligence sectors in China; and what (A) statutory provisions apply to and (B) guidance her Department has issued on such investment.

Greg Hands: As per the Atlantic Declaration, the UK and US have a shared objective in preventing our companies’ capital and expertise from fuelling technological advances that will enhance the military and intelligence capabilities of countries of concern. DBT, alongside other relevant departments, is assessing the potential national security risks to the UK posed by Outward Direct Investment, including within subsets of emerging technology. We have engaged with industry and posted guidance on GOV.UKThe Integrated Review 2023 is clear that the UK government supports a positive trade and investment relationship with China, where it is consistent with our interests, values, and national security.

Investment

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, who (a) the Government invited and (b) attended the Global Investment Summit 2023 dinner on 27 November 2023 at HamptonCourtPalace.

Greg Hands: The Global Investment Summit 2023 was held at Hampton Court Palace on 27th November, the event took place during the day and no dinner was held.

Cosmetics: Exports

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to help support businesses that export to the US with complying with the enforcement regulations under the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act that come into force on 1 January 2024.

Greg Hands: The Government’s Export Strategy, ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’, focuses on the challenges UK businesses face when exporting. It targets barriers to trade and helps businesses at every stage of their export journey. The Department for Business and Trade continues to support companies through our network of domestic and overseas trade advisers, sector specialists and the Export Support Service.Businesses can contact the Export Support Service if they have any export related questions.

Cabinet Office

Government: Procurement

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to help improve the transparency of government procurement contracts in the last 12 months.

Alex Burghart: The Procurement Act, which recently received Royal Assent, helps deliver this Government’s promise to grow the economy by creating a simpler and more transparent system that will deliver better value for money, reducing costs for business and the public sector. The Act embeds transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle so that the spending of taxpayers’ money can be properly scrutinised.

Cabinet Office: Ground Transport

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the contract awarded by his Department to Ground Transport Ltd on 13 November 2020 under contract reference CCYZ20A06, whether the services agreed in that contract were performed until the planned expiry date of 12 November 2023 set out in Paragraph 4.1 of the contract.

Alex Burghart: This contract is no longer held by the Cabinet Office. It was novated to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities on 14th January 2021. It was then novated to the Department for International Trade (now the Department for Business and Trade (DBT)) on 17th October 2022. DBT have subsequently extended the contract until June 2024 and so the services covered by this contract are still being delivered.

Department for Education

Teachers: Training

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of trainee teachers who are enrolled on initial teacher training programmes are also enrolled on subject knowledge enhancement courses in the latest period for which data is available.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not held centrally. The department does not hold exact matching data showing the number of Initial Teacher Training participants who have undertaken a subject knowledge enhancement course.

Teachers: Training

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers with qualified teacher status have enrolled on subject knowledge enhancement courses in each year since 2018.

Damian Hinds: Government funded subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses are not available to teachers who already hold qualified teacher status (QTS). The SKE programme supports recruitment to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in subjects with the biggest sufficiency challenges. It is only available to candidates who have a conditional offer of a place on an ITT programme which leads to the award of QTS.

Teachers: Training

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of participants on subject knowledge enhancement courses are eligible for bursary funding.

Damian Hinds: For academic year 2022/2023, there were 3075 participants undertaking a subject knowledge enhancement course (SKE). For academic year 2022/2023, there were 3,075 participants undertaking an SKE. Of these, 2,940 (approximately 96%) were eligible for an SKE bursary.

Pupils: Nutrition

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she takes to monitor the number of schools pupils that are malnourished.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the diet of pupils in schools.

Damian Hinds: The government supports the provision of nutritious food in schools. The Requirements for School Food Regulations (2014) require schools to provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. These regulations are accessible at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made.The school food standards restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. Compliance with the school food standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, academies and free schools.The department spends over a £1 billion a year on school food, including £600 million for universal infant free school meals (FSM). Under the benefits-based criteria, 2 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for, and claiming, a FSM. Almost 1.3 million additional infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant FSM policy in 2014. In addition, the school fruit and vegetables scheme provides over 2.2 million children in reception and key stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school.The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities collect data on child weight through the National Child Measurement Programme. The latest data from October 2023 shows that among reception children (aged 4-5 years), prevalence of underweight remained at 1.2% in 2022/23, which is higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019/20 (0.9%). In year 6 pupils (aged 10-11 years), underweight prevalence went up from 1.2% to 1.5%, but is similar to pre-pandemic levels in the 2019/20 data (1.4%). Although the increase in the proportion of underweight children is statistically significant, this is below the 2% level expected in a healthy population, and therefore does not raise concerns.

Schools: Gender Based Violence

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce non-statutory guidance on a whole school approach for preventing violence against women and girls in education settings.

Damian Hinds: The department proposed to publish non-statutory guidance focusing on teaching about sexual harassment, sexual violence and violence against women and girls in response to a report by Ofsted into sexual abuse in schools and colleges following the tragic death of Sarah Everard. Once the current review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance is complete, the department will consider how best to support schools to teach about this topic.A new draft statutory RSHE guidance will be released at the earliest opportunity, which will then be subject to public consultation.

Free School Meals

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of broadening the eligibility criteria for free school meals.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of running a pilot study to assess the impact of universal free school meals on educational outcomes.

Damian Hinds: This government has extended free school meals (FSM) eligibility more than any other government in decades. Over 2 million pupils are currently eligible for benefits-based FSM. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the universal infant FSM policy.The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables pupils in low-income households to benefit from FSM while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The department does not currently have plans to change the existing eligibility conditions for FSM but will continue to keep the policy under review.The department has no current plans to assess the impact of universal free meals on attainment.

Childcare

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of individuals who are not eligible for the extended 30 hours of childcare offer because they are subject to the no recourse to public funds condition; and what proportion of those individuals have children with British citizenship.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the eligibility criteria for the extended 30 hours childcare offer to allow migrant parents with the right to work to access that offer.

David Johnston: The government expects migrants coming to the UK to be able to maintain and accommodate themselves without the support of public funds.The department has not made an estimate of the numbers of families who are not eligible for 30 hours because they have no recourse to public funds. The department also does not hold data on what proportion of those individuals have children with British citizenship.The new working parent entitlement, which will be rolled out in phases from April 2024, will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. These will be the same as the current 30 hours offer for three and four year-olds.The free childcare entitlements for the children of working parents are not within the definition of ’public funds’ in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Immigration Rules. However, there are requirements in the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 for the parent, or one of the parents, not to be subject to immigration control, which means that where both parents have no recourse to public funds, they will not be eligible for the entitlements.Parents with no recourse to public funds are, however, able to access the 15 hours free early education entitlement available for all three and four year-olds and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds. In September 2022, the department extended eligibility for the two-year-old entitlement to disadvantaged families who have no recourse to public funds. This is because these entitlements are intended to support children's development and help prepare them for school.The government has no current plans to extend the early years entitlements for working parents to families with no recourse to public funds.

Schools: Closures

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 21 February 2023 to Question 140337 on Schools: Closures, how many additional state-funded schools have (a) temporarily or (b) permanently closed (i) all or (ii) part of their school site because one or more buildings were deemed unsafe in the period since February 2023; and which schools have been affected.

Damian Hinds: It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary aided school bodies – to manage the maintenance of their schools and alert the department if there is a concern with a building. Local authorities and academy trusts do not need to report building closures to the department; therefore the department does not hold this data. The department does provide support on a case by case basis, working with the sector if it is alerted to a serious safety issue.The government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC as of 16 October 2023. The list is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.The department always puts the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in schools and colleges at the heart of its policy decisions.

Autism: Assessments

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available to young people on the autism assessment waiting list who are sitting exams for Ofqual-regulated qualifications.

David Johnston: ​​The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is taking steps to improve access to assessments for autism. In 2023/24, DHSC allocated £4.2 million to improve services for autistic children and young people including assessments, pre-and post-diagnostic support, and the continuation of the Autism in Schools programme. Additionally, in April 2023, NHS England published a national framework to support the local NHS to commission and deliver autism assessment services for children, young people, and adults.​​The Department for Education wants all children and young people, no matter what their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), to be able to reach their full potential and receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. Under the Children and Families Act 2014, mainstream schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person who has Special Educational Needs (SEN) gets the special educational provision they need.​​The SEND Code of Practice is clear however that meeting the needs of a child with SEN does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all children and young people and put support in place where needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.​​The 2023 SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan set out the department’s vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and practitioner standards will be developed to support frontline professionals, including one on autism.​​The department's Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism, through one programme, which aims to reach 70% of schools and colleges in England per year.​​The contract offers autism awareness training and resources, and over 100,000 professionals have undertaken this autism awareness training since the Universal Services programme launched last year.​Access arrangements can be agreed with exam boards for candidates with specific needs, including SEND, to help them access assessments to show what they know and can do without affecting the integrity of the assessment.​​The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) or equivalent for a school or college must lead on the access arrangements process, fully supported by teaching staff and members of the senior leadership team. SENCos are responsible for taking appropriate steps to gather an appropriate picture of need, demonstrate normal ways of working for candidates, and ensure that approved access arrangements are put in place for internal school tests, mock examinations and examinations.

Department for Transport

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press notice entitled £8 billion boost to repair roads and back drivers, published on 17 November 2023, what proportion of the UK's road length will be resurfaced using the announced funding.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press release entitled £8 billion boost to repair roads and back drivers, published on 17 November 2023, what his planned timescale is for the rollout of that funding.

Guy Opperman: Across England, local highway authorities are receiving an additional £150 million this financial year as the first instalment of the £8.3 billion roads resurfacing fund through Network North.This is in addition to the £915 million baseline funding for 2023/24 for those English highway authorities which are outside London and outside the Mayoral Combined Authority areas in receipt of City Region Sustainable Settlements, for whom separate arrangements apply. It is also in addition to the £200 million increase for the 2023/24 financial year that was announced at Budget 2023.All eligible highway authorities in England will receive a further uplift from the additional £150 million that is also being provided in 2024/2025. Further details of how the rest of the £8.3 billion will be allocated will be announced in due course, this is anticipated to take place at a future Spending Review.The tables below provide confirmed funding levels for 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025, and the indicative minimum additional funding allocations between 2023 to 2024 and 2033 to 2034 inclusive.Local Authority allocations:Local authorityCurrent baseline allocation per year (HMB + Pothole Fund) (£000)2023-24 – additional funding (£000)2024-25 – additional funding (£000)Minimum additional overall uplift between 2023-24 and 2033-34 (£000)Bedford3,72847047014,725Blackburn with Darwen2,40830630620,438Blackpool1,50119119112,727Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole4,78660460418,903Bracknell Forest2,1242682688,391Brighton and Hove3,27441341312,935Buckinghamshire13,1111,6541,65451,785Central Bedfordshire5,56470270221,983Cheshire East13,0481,6581,658110,731Cheshire West and Chester9,9291,2621,26284,257Cornwall28,3253,5733,573111,883County Durham14,8411,8861,886125,951Cumberland15,3391,9491,949130,180Derby2,76535235220,545Derbyshire23,6993,0143,014176,114Devon52,8236,6636,663208,657Dorset16,3912,0682,06864,749East Riding of Yorkshire13,7931,7531,753117,059East Sussex13,2751,6741,67452,432Essex30,6853,8703,870121,205Gateshead3,42043543529,028Gloucestershire22,2662,8092,80987,955Hampshire33,4934,2254,225132,297Herefordshire, County of14,3891,8301,830106,918Hertfordshire22,2302,8042,80487,813Isle of WightNone – private financial initiative (PFI)None – PFINone – PFINone – PFIIsles of ScillyNone – separate funding arrangementNone – separate funding arrangementNone – separate funding arrangementNone – separate funding arrangementKent34,0584,2964,296134,531Kingston upon Hull, City of2,81035735723,855Lancashire28,8113,6613,661244,511Leicester3,26241541524,241Leicestershire17,7552,2582,258131,939Lincolnshire38,7234,9244,924287,750LondonNone – separate funding arrangement7,5307,530235,804Luton1,7082152156,746Medway3,17740140112,552Milton Keynes6,39780780725,263Newcastle upon Tyne3,38943143128,758Norfolk35,7574,5104,510141,240North East Lincolnshire2,49131731721,145North Lincolnshire5,74473073048,754North Northamptonshire8,4041,0691,06962,450North Somerset5,01163263219,789North Tyneside2,81935835823,922North Yorkshire37,0214,7044,704314,185Northumberland21,7802,7682,768184,836Nottingham2,76535235220,554Nottinghamshire18,6302,3692,369138,443Oxfordshire20,8462,6292,62982,340Plymouth2,90336636611,469Portsmouth1,7862252257,054Reading1,8382322327,262Rutland2,38130330317,696Shropshire20,5992,6192,619153,072Slough1,1291421424,457Somerset28,1113,5463,546111,039South Tyneside1,93324624616,408Southampton2,1282682688,406Southend-on-Sea1,7392192196,868Staffordshire25,0673,1883,188186,273Stoke-on-Trent2,97237837822,087Suffolk27,2383,4363,436107,590Sunderland4,12952552535,035Surrey20,8692,6322,63282,436Swindon3,49644144113,807Telford and Wrekin4,31154854832,035Thurrock2,4893143149,832Torbay1,8202302307,193Warrington3,98950750733,858Warwickshire16,1712,0562,056120,168West Berkshire5,38767967921,279West Northamptonshire10,6691,3571,35779,281West Sussex17,1362,1612,16167,684Westmorland and Furness18,4742,3472,347156,777Wiltshire20,7272,6142,61481,869Windsor and Maidenhead2,72034334310,741Wokingham3,31441841813,095Worcestershire18,7382,3832,383139,243York, City of2,83536036024,055Total945,663127,249127,2495,731,338Combined local authority allocationsCombined authority (CA)Current baseline allocation per year (HMB + Pothole Fund) (£000)2023-24 – additional funding (£000)2024-25 – additional funding (£000)Minimum additional uplift from 2023-24 to 2033-34 (£000)Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CA23,0622,9092,90991,095Greater Manchester CACity Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS)4,4384,438296,466Liverpool City Region CACRSTS2,6842,684179,225South Yorkshire MCACRSTS1,9941,994133,175Tees Valley CACRSTS1,4991,499100,104West Midlands CACRSTS2,5862,586151,192West of England CACRSTS2,0072,00762,847West Yorkshire CACRSTS4,6334,633309,559CA totalMost receive funding via CRSTS22,75022,7501,323,663

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of rail enhancements in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.

Huw Merriman: Rail enhancements are delivered through the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, which has spent the following in each year in CP6 (including contributions to 3rd party schemes), from 2019 (figures shown in £m, nominal): a) 2019/20: £1,475mb) 2020/21: £1,477mc) 2021/22: £1,685md) 2022/23: £1,840m

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what was the cost to the public purse of rail enhancements in control periods (a) 2014-19, (b) 2009-14 and (c) 2004-2009.

Huw Merriman: Due to changes in the way that rail enhancements are delivered and spend accounted for, it is challenging to provide accurate and consistent information on the cost to the public purse prior to 2010. The following provides information in a consistent price base (April 2022 to March 2023 prices) from a consistent source, for all enhancements spend excluding HS2 in the time periods requested. Note the figures reflect enhancements spend across Great Britain but rail infrastructure in Scotland is a devolved matter. A) 2014-2019 - £21,627m.B) 2009-2014 - £15,183m – note that information for Network Rail enhancements spend is not available for the year April 2009 to March 2010.C) 2004-2009 – comparable information on enhancements spend is not available for this period.

Railway Industry Association

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings has he had with the Railway Industry Association in the last 12 months.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings has he had with the Midlands Rail Forum in the last 12 months.

Huw Merriman: My hon. friend, the Secretary of State and I have met a number of rail industry bodies over the past twelve months including the Rail Industry Association (RIA) and Rail Forum. I have met with the Rail Industry Association nine times and the Rail Forum three times. My officials also engage with them on a regular basis.

Electric Vehicles: Regulation

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving powers to the Mayor of London to control the use of e-bikes and e-scooters.

Guy Opperman: The Mayor already has powers to determine whether e-scooter trials can take place in London and he has permitted a number of these to take place since June 2021. Transport for London administers the trials in participating boroughs with the scheme operators, and enforcement of the illegal use of e-scooters is a matter for the police. E-cycles can be used legally on public roads providing that they comply with the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle regulations, which, among other things, limit their power and speed. Enforcement of the illegal use of e-cycles in London and elsewhere is a matter for the police, and local authorities have powers to remove rental e-cycles where they are causing an obstruction.

Airports: Security

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2023 to Question 194996, which UK airports (a) had completed the full installation of Next Generation Security Checkpoints across all passenger security lanes by 4 December 2023; and which UK airports he expects to complete full installation of Next Generation Security Checkpoints across all passenger security lanes by 20 December 2023.

Anthony Browne: Airports are currently rolling out the Next Generation Security Checkpoint technology. The deadline for implementation is 1 June 2024. Airport security measures are sensitive, and as such we are unable to provide detail on the technology implemented at particular airports.

Driving Tests: Recruitment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving examiners were recruited between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022; and how many of these were still employed by the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency as of 31 October 2023.

Guy Opperman: To stabilise its workforce, the DVSA is reviewing the contracts of those driving examiners who were recruited on a fixed term basis and converting these to permanent contracts. The DVSA has increased its training capacity to support more new entrant driving examiners.The DVSA's examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but due to the extremely competitive job market there are some areas of Great Britain that are challenging to recruit in.

M1: Safety

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the National Highways Agency will undertake a road safety audit of changes made to the off slip road of the M1 Junction 13.

Guy Opperman: National Highways undertook a safety audit prior to the scheme to remove traffic signals at junction 13 of the M1 and they will be carrying out a post scheme road safety audit in the autumn of 2024, 12 months after the scheme’s completion. Any recommendations from the safety audit will be implemented as necessary.

Ministry of Justice

Probation Service: Sick Leave

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many stress-related sick day absences were recorded for probation staff in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

Edward Argar: The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including the number of working days lost for Probation Service staff by structure/division. The latest publication covers data up to 30th September 2023. Data for the number of probation staff who were absent due to stress-related sickness in Greater London is provided in table 1 below. Table 1: Number of working days lost due to stress for all Probation Service staff1 in London, 01 January to 31 December 2021-2022 and 01 January to 30 September 2023 (Based on full time equivalence)Group01 January to 31 Dec 2021201 January to 31 Dec 202201 January to 30 Sep 20233Approved Premises - London418550320London Probation Service5,4507,1016,078Total5,8687,6516,399 Notes:1. Includes all staff employed in the Probation Service. A small number of staff in the Probation Service do not have probation grades.2. In late June 2021, more than 7,000 staff from private sector Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) came together with probation staff already in the public sector in the new Probation Service3. Latest published data is up to 30 September 2023 and so 2023 is not a full calendar year.(p) Figures relating to current financial year are provisional and may be subject to change in future iterations of this publication.We are focused on ensuring our staff have the support they need to manage workplace stress, including support for staff and managers such as Occupational Health and the Employee Assistance Programme. Staff are also able to access additional support through staff networks, staff support leads and the HMPPS network of Mental Health Allies. Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service. We have accelerated recruitment of trainee Probation Officers (PQiPs) to increase staffing levels, particularly in Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) with the most significant staffing challenges. As a result, over 4,000 PQiPs joined the service between 2020/21 and 2022/23 which we anticipate will start to directly impact reduction of caseloads. We continue to run centralised recruitment campaigns in priority regions to help bolster the number of applications and improve time to hire for key operational roles.The Probation Service is in its second year of a multi-year pay deal for staff. Salary values of all pay bands will increase each year, targeted at key operational grades to improve a challenging recruitment and retention position.

Youth Custody: Staff

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the attrition rate was for staff in the youth custody service in each reporting year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The leaving rates of staff who work in prisons currently part of the Youth Custody Service are given in the table below.We are looking into the increase in attrition via the retention oversight and exit interview processes so that appropriate interventions can be put in place. The retention oversight process was introduced in August 2022 to target priority sites, these include establishments with the highest attrition rates and those that are a cause for concern due to increasing attrition.In late 2021, HM Prison Service launched a retention tool kit to help Governors to tackle the main drivers of attrition in their prisons. We are using the data from this and enhanced exit interviews to better understand why employees are leaving.HM Prison Service made a significant investment in pay for prison staff through the 2023/24 pay awards. This delivered an increase in base pay of at least 4% for all staff between bands 2 to 11, alongside further targeted pay rises for our lowest paid staff of up to £2,500 which we hope will help in reducing leaving rates.Since April 2022, HM Prison Service have invested in several new initiatives to improve the experience of our new joiners and increase retention of our employees. These include a new peer-to-peer learning scheme, the introduction of mentors for new staff, a supervision pilot in two prisons, and new leadership training in prisons facing retention challenges.Table 1: Underlying leaving rate of permanent staff in Youth Custody Estate, for 12 months to 31 March each year since 2010, and latest position as at 30 September 2023 12 Months toLeaversAverage staff in postLeaving rate31/03/2010741,5104.9%31/03/2011801,5055.3%31/03/2012681,5054.5%31/03/20131011,4517.0%31/03/20141111,3518.2%31/03/20151391,25311.1%31/03/20161341,26610.6%31/03/20171461,33311.0%31/03/20181481,41610.5%31/03/20191581,6849.4%31/03/20201981,73011.4%31/03/20211211,5587.8%31/03/20221961,60412.2%31/03/20232751,62117.0%30/09/2023(p)2941,64517.9%Notes1. Leaving rate is calculated as number of leavers by as a proportion of an average of all permanent staff in post.2. The leavers figures do not include voluntary early departure or redundancy.3. Permanent staff are those with a permanent contract of employment with HMPPS.4. The Youth Custody Service (YCS), created in April 2017 to oversee day-to-day management of young people up to 18 years of age in the young people’s estate. Youth Custody Estate includes the following prisons: Cookham Wood, Feltham, Werrington, Wetherby and Medway Secure Training Centre (which closed in March 2020)5. Internal transfers within HMPPS are not included.(p) Figures relating to current financial year are provisional and may be subject to change in future.

Hunting: Prosecutions

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted under the Hunting Act 2004 in each year since 2010.

Gareth Bacon: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under the Hunting Act 2004, in England and Wales, covering the period requested up to December 2022, and this can be viewed in the following data tool: Outcomes by Offence data tool.Navigate to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and use the Offence filter to select the offence: ‘121A Offences under Hunting Act 2004’.

Prison and Probation Service: Staff

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether staff below senior grade in HM Prisons and Probation Service have visited Estonia on official duties in the last 12 months.

Edward Argar: No junior HMPPS officials have visited Estonia in the last 12 months. As part of wider judicial cooperation HMPPS staff have visited several countries in the last 12 months to engage on a range of criminal justice priorities.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times a police cell was used as part of Operation Safeguard in 2023 by (a) region and (b) police force.

Edward Argar: Operation safeguard is a planned contingency measure which was implemented in February 2023 and operated up until November 2023 in relation to the adult male estate. It is used to hold adult male prisoners in police custody suites temporarily as needed.The tables below provide a breakdown of police cell usage as part of Operation Safeguard in 2023 by region and police force.RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsNorth EastHumberside80North Yorkshire34South Yorkshire28West Yorkshire93Cleveland105Durham0Northumbria145Total485 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsSouth WestAvon & Somerset1Devon & Cornwall0Dorset0Gloucestershire5Wiltshire0Total6 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsEasternBedfordshire1Cambridgeshire0Essex10Hertfordshire2Norfolk4Suffolk0Total17 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsNorth WestCheshire204Cumbria26Greater Manchester372Lancashire`261Merseyside39North Wales21Total923 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsSouth EastHampshire & IOW0Kent7Surrey24Sussex1Thames Valley26Total58 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsEast MidlandsDerbyshire4Leicestershire3Lincolnshire0Northamptonshire2Nottinghamshire0Total9 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsCentralStaffordshire29Warwickshire0West Mercia0West Midlands22Total51 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsLondon MetLondon Met136Total136 RegionPolice forceNumber of cellsWalesDfyed-Powys0 Gwent0 South Wales0Total0

Community Orders

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the number of hours of unpaid work completed at home as part of community sentences in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: Independent working projects were introduced as a temporary delivery method in response to COVID-19 restrictions and enabled the Probation Service to continue delivery during periods of lockdown. Independent working projects were not in use prior to April 2020, therefore there is no relevant data between 2010 and that date. The practice of home working ceased in September 2022 The following number of hours of unpaid work have been recorded as completed at home as part of a community sentence. DateUPW hours completed at home01/04/2020 to 31/03/202171,71101/04/2021 to 31/03/2022294,55401/04/2022 to 31/03/2023168,73801/04/2023 to 30/09/2023492 Explanatory noteThese figures differ from previously reported figures due to data recording corrections.Independent home working ceased in September 2022, however, some recording errors where probation teams still recorded completed UPW hours under the heading of home working have resulted in some hours recorded in 2023.The 492 hours recorded since April 2023 result primarily from data recording issues (for example, hours delivered prior to September 2022 but recorded on the system at a later date). A small number of hours relate to the continuation of home working in 4 individual cases due to specific, unavoidable factors (for example, an absence of childcare).This data was sourced from the Probation Case Management System, nDelius. While reasonable efforts have been taken to ensure the accuracy of this data, the inaccuracy inherent in any large-scale administrative data source means data should not be assumed to be accurate to the last unit presented.

Prisoners: Transgender People

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Prison and Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022-23, published on 30 November 2023, how many and what proportion of transgender prisoners held in (a) England and (b) Wales were convicted of a sexual offence.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Prison and Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022-23, published on 30 November 2023, how many and what proportion of transgender prisoners convicted of a sexual offence were registered as (a) male and (b) female at birth.

Edward Argar: We have strengthened our policy so that no transgender woman convicted of either a sexual or violent offence, or who retains male genitalia, can be held in the general women’s estate, other than in truly exceptional circumstances, which must be signed off by a minister.A total of 100 transgender prisoners had a sexual offence as a principal offence and were housed in prison establishments across England and Wales on 31 March 2023. If a question is posed for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ must consider whether this would be likely to lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and/or the Data Protection Act 2018. We believe that the release of some of this information would be likely to lead to identification of the individuals concerned. For this reason, it is not possible to provide a split by legal gender (i.e., counts and percentages by legal gender male or legal gender female) or to provide a split by geography (i.e., counts and percentages in England and Wales).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Veterinary Medicine: Dangerous Dogs

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support veterinary practices following the ban on American XL Bully dogs.

Mark Spencer: The Government has produced specific guidance for vets relating to their role in the neutering and euthanasia of XL Bully dogs. Vets can refer to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Code of Conduct with regard to their professional responsibilities.

Flood Control

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of flood defences.

Samantha Dixon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of flood defences.

Robbie Moore: The Government is working closely with the Environment Agency and relevant authorities to ensure flood defences impacted by recent flooding are repaired as quickly as possible; around 14,000 asset inspections have been conducted following the recent storms with action taken wherever asset performance was compromised. This year and last, £200 million is being invested in maintaining flood risk assets, with the aim of achieving our current target of between 94-95% in target condition. In the City of Chester, in the current Flood and Coastal Risk Management capital programme, £20,000 of Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid funding has been allocated for projects in the constituency, which will better protect properties from flooding. There is also a proposed project in the Stretford and Urmston constituency (Longford Brook Flood Alleviation Scheme).

Question

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of swine influenza A viruses in pigs.

Mark Spencer: Swine influenza is endemic in the UK pig population, generally causing mild disease.Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are providing specialist veterinary and scientific support to the UK Health Security Agency incident response.APHA provides free testing for swine influenza in pigs to detect new and emerging strains.

Dangerous Dogs

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on the definition ofanXLbully type dog.

Mark Spencer: Defra convened a group of experts and other stakeholders to define the physical characteristics of the breed type. This included representatives from the police, local authorities, devolved administrations and the Animal Welfare Committee, which advises the Government on animal welfare issues. The definition and guidance have been published on Gov.uk to help the police and owners understand whether a dog should be defined as an XL Bully.

Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,what his planned timetable is for publishing the Responsible Dog Ownership Steering Group report.

Mark Spencer: We expect the Responsible Dog Ownership working group to publish its findings soon.

Dangerous Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the ban on American Bully XL dogs.

Mark Spencer: Defra has analysed the potential costs relating to the XL Bully ban. The cost estimates were generated using evidence and data collated in consultation with animal welfare charities, interested parties and key stakeholders. The assessment of the cost impact can be found in the Explanatory Memorandum which accompanied the Dangerous Dogs (Compensation And Exemption Schemes) (England And Wales) Order 2023.

Dogs: Licensing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will create a Dog Licensing Agency.

Mark Spencer: We have no plans at this time to reintroduce such a scheme, as it would most likely amount to a database of responsible owners. The old dog licence was repealed by the Local Government Act 1988 because it cost more to administer than the revenue it generated. The old licencing system was in effect an ownership registration scheme. Now that microchipping is mandatory, this is no longer necessary.

Zoonoses: Furs

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with counterparts in (a) Finland and (b) other EU countries on collective action to prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases on fur farms.

Mark Spencer: The Government is continuing to build its evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade. We have not had any conversations with Finland or EU countries on zoonotic diseases arising from fur farms.

Dangerous Dogs: Fines

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the (a) fines and (b) other penalties for dog owners whose dogs (i) attack and (ii) kill other people.

Mark Spencer: The maximum penalty for any owner who allows their dog to be dangerously out of control is 14 years’ imprisonment where the death of a person is involved, five years’ imprisonment where a person is injured, six months’ imprisonment where no injury is caused to a person, and three years’ imprisonment for an aggravated attack on an assistance dog. All of the above offences carry the possibility of an unlimited fine. We are currently working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied to encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks.

Pigs and Poultry: Animal Welfare

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to pages 6 and 12 of his Department's Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021, what his timeline is for examining the use of cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs.

Mark Spencer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 November 2023 to the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford, PQ UIN 157.

Furs: Sales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations his Department has received from the British Fur Trade Association on the proposals on fur sales in UK in his Department's Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the British Fur Trade Association on the proposals on fur sales in UK in his Department's Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021.

Mark Spencer: We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade.  We have run the Call for Evidence on the fur market in Great Britain and continue to directly engage with stakeholders including the British Fur Trade Association. We have also commissioned a report from our expert Animal Welfare Committee into the issue of what constitutes responsible sourcing in the fur industry. This report will help inform our next steps, and the Animal Welfare Committee will be in contact with the British Fur Trade Association as part of taking this forward.

Marine Protected Areas: Fisheries

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's timescale is for publishing proposed byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in some offshore marine protected areas.

Mark Spencer: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only. We have established a comprehensive network of MPAs covering 40% of our waters and, now that we have left the EU, we have new powers to ensure our offshore MPAs are properly protected. Byelaws to prevent damaging fishing in the first four offshore sites were published in 2022, which ban bottom towed fishing gear over sensitive features. The Marine Management Organisation consulted earlier this year on similar proposals for a further 13 sites and a decision on this will be taken shortly. Further consultations to complete the byelaw programme are planned for 2024 and we are aiming to have all MPAs in English waters protected from damaging fishing activity by the end of that year.

Marine Protected Areas: Fisheries

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to help protect Marine Protected Areas from bottom trawling.

Mark Spencer: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only. We have established a comprehensive network of MPAs covering 40% of our waters, and we are now focusing on making sure they are properly protected. Nearly 60% of the 181 English MPAs are already protected from damaging fishing activity. This includes byelaws made last year, which ban bottom towed gear over sensitive features in the first four offshore sites. The Marine Management Organisation consulted earlier this year on similar proposals for a further 13 sites; a decision on this will be taken shortly. We are aiming to have all MPAs in English waters protected from damaging fishing activity by the end of 2024.

Food

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage consumers to purchase UK-grown produce at Christmas in 2023.

Mark Spencer: British farmers produce some of the highest quality food in the world. We want more people to be able to access the nutritious and locally-sourced food they produce. That is why Defra officials regularly engage with major supermarkets to understand the work they are doing to promote British produce. We welcome their efforts to promote British food by showcasing seasonal produce and promoting classic British recipes, ensuring that their customers can make informed choices about buying great quality British food and drink throughout the year. As a Government, we want build on the commitments made at the Farm to Fork Summit earlier this year and drive forward our new farming schemes to deliver a profitable and sustainable food and farming sector for Great Britain and ensure that even more of the great British public has every opportunity to buy our excellent food and drink.

Countryside: Access

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the role of the National Cycle Network in providing access to nature.

Rebecca Pow: The Government recognises the importance of walking, cycling and other forms of sustainable transport in accessing nature. We are working to ensure that consideration of access to nature is integrated with our work on active travel and the Government is fully committed to the ambitious vision that by 2030, half of all journeys in towns and cities are walked or cycled. The National Cycle Network provides 12,000 miles of signed routes for walking, wheeling and cycling which includes over 5,000 miles of traffic-free paths.

Fishing Catches

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will set sustainable fishing catch limits that do not exceed those set by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

Mark Spencer: As an independent coastal State, the UK sets total allowable catches (TACs) through negotiations with other coastal States, led by the best scientific advice, including advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) on maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Per our obligations under the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement, we seek to achieve, or contribute to the achievement of the fisheries objectives. In particular, we strive for outcomes that ensure environmental sustainability, including increasing the total number of stocks fished at MSY, as well as bring socio-economic benefits. In early 2024, following the conclusion of the annual fisheries negotiations, the Government will publish an independent assessment of the number of TACs set consistent with ICES advice for 2024.

Fishing Catches

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure fishing takes place at sustainable levels.

Mark Spencer: As an independent coastal State, the UK sets total allowable catches (TACs) through negotiations with other coastal States, led by the best scientific advice, including advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) on maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Our Fisheries Management Plans will set out how to maintain or recover the stocks and species covered to MSY. Our first five plans, to be published shortly, cover valuable non quota stocks.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of how much the Exchequer has received from the Mineworkers Pension Scheme under the surplus sharing arrangements adjusted for inflation since the establishment of those arrangements.

Graham Stuart: A surplus sharing arrangement was negotiated between the Government and the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees in 1994. The Government has received £4.8bn as its share of surplus over the past 29 years. An inflation-adjusted figure is not available.

Insulation: Housing

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to help insulate homes with a low energy efficiency rating in Leeds North East constituency.

Graham Stuart: The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings. Additionally, £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028. The Government ‘Help to Heat’ schemes ensure homes will be warmer and cheaper to heat. The Government will deliver upgrades to over half a million homes in the coming years through Social Housing Decarbonisation, Home Upgrade Grant and Energy Company Obligation Schemes. Constituents in Leeds North-East can check their eligibility for schemes on www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency or through the home retrofit phoneline service on 0800 098 7950.

Fuel Poverty

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the 1 January 2024 Ofgem price cap increase on the number of households in fuel poverty.

Amanda Solloway: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has not yet assessed the potential impact of the Ofgem price cap increase on the number of fuel poor households. Updated fuel poverty estimates for England will be published in February. The price cap announcement means prices will be lower than at the start of 2023. The Government continues to provide targeted financial support to vulnerable households through the Cost of Living Payments, Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment. Multiple targeted energy efficiency schemes remain in place to deliver measures to fuel poor households including the Energy Company Obligation.

Energy: Price Caps

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the 1 January 2024 Ofgem price cap increase on the number of households that require additional support for fuel bills.

Amanda Solloway: The Government frequently assesses the merits of energy cost support policies and the impacts various policy ideas would have on the most vulnerable households. Energy prices have significantly fallen in the past year alone and the Q1 2024 price cap of £1,928 has more than halved compared to the previous year when the Q1 2023 price cap peaked at £4,279. The Government also recognises the challenges posed by cost-of-living pressures, including the impact of energy bills, and is already providing extensive financial support to households. This includes a package of support to assist households and individuals with rising costs of living that will total over £104 billion, or £3,700 per household on average, over 2022-2025. Millions of vulnerable households will receive up to £900 in further Cost of Living Payments. These payments are in addition to established financial support which is available for low income and vulnerable households this winter through the Winter Fuel Payment worth between £250 - £600 and the Cold Weather Payment providing £25 during very cold weather. The Government continues to provide support through the Warm Home Discount, which provides low-income and vulnerable households with an annual £150 rebate off their energy bill every winter.

Energy: Social Tariffs

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a social tariff on energy as a result of the Ofgem price cap increase from 1 January 2024.

Amanda Solloway: The Government recognises the challenges posed by cost-of-living pressures, including the impact of energy bills, and is already providing extensive financial support to households. This includes a package of support to assist households and individuals with rising costs of living that will total over £104 billion, or £3,700 per household on average, over 2022-2025.As cost-of-living pressures decrease, the Government is continuing to support those most in need as prices come down. The Government is providing £900 of cost-of-living payments throughout 2023/24 to help vulnerable households, and this is an increase on the £650 provided the previous year.

Treasury

Housing: Prices

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of changes in the level of house prices since September 2023.

Bim Afolami: The most reliable measure of average house prices in the UK is published by the ONS. The latest release is for September 2023, when the average house price in the UK was assessed to be £291,400. That leaves average UK house prices 25% higher than their average level in 2019, although 0.2% lower than their average level in Sept 2022.While prices have remained resilient, housing market activity has slowed in recent months, largely as a result of rising mortgage rates, which are in part driven by Bank Rate. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. The path to lower rates is through low inflation, which is why the government is fully committed to supporting the Bank get inflation back down to the 2% target. The MPC continues to have the Government’s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target through its independent monetary policy decisions.The Government has taken steps to limit the impact of rising interest rates on mortgage holders, through the Mortgage Charter. This Charter sets out the standards that signatory lenders – who represent over 90% of the UK mortgage market – will adopt when helping their customers.We have also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS), and Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. Accordingly, arrears and repossessions remain at historic lows, despite the rise in interest costs.The government continues to monitor developments in the housing market closely and consider the implications for its policies.

Credit Cards: Fees and Charges

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the cap on interchange fees.

Bim Afolami: The Government has previously legislated to ensure that interchange fees remain capped for UK domestic card transactions, where both the card issuer and acquirer are located in the UK, through the Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. This instrument ensures that the previous EU regulation on interchange fees for card payments continues to operate effectively as direct retained EU law following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. These caps ensure that the cost of card payments is affordable for merchants and acquirers. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, repeals retained EU law in financial services, which includes the Interchange Fee Regulation 2015, in order to deliver a Smarter Regulatory Framework. Retained EU law will be repealed and replaced with rules set by our independent and expert regulators, operating within a framework set by government and Parliament. Under this framework, the Payment Systems Regulator will be responsible for any future rules on interchange fees.

Tax Collection

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the revenue received by the public purse through (a) compliance yield as measured for performance purposes and (b) tax revenue as measured by tax receipts raised as a result of new spending on compliance activity announced in each (i) a Budget and (ii) Autumn Statement in the last five financial years.

Nigel Huddleston: At each fiscal event the Government publishes a table of the impacts of its policy and operational decisions certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Measures which raise tax revenue from compliance activity are generally part of our “Tackling the tax gap” package at each fiscal event. Most recently this was set out in Table 5.1 of Autumn Statement 2023, and is available for previous years on GOV.UK. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6560c4091fd90c000dac3b87/Table_5.1_Policy_decisions_at_Autumn_Statement_2023_UPDATE_3.xlsx

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 48 of his Department's publication entitled Autumn Statement 2023 Policy Costings, published in November 2023, whether the new staff recruited to operational teams will be included in existing HMRC tax compliance staffing figures.

Nigel Huddleston: As announced in Autumn Statement 2023, the Government is investing £163 million to increase HMRC’s customer support and debt collection capacity. This will ensure those who can afford to pay their tax debts do so, while increasing HMRC’s ability to identify taxpayers who need additional time to pay their tax bills. HMRC will add 700 full time equivalents to its debt management frontline team. This will significantly improve customer support for individuals and businesses: allowing more debtors to be contacted over the telephone, providing those who are struggling to pay with support, and ensuring that those who can pay their tax debts do. The new staff recruited to operational teams are currently not included in existing HMRC tax compliance staffing figures. These measures build on Spring Budget 2023 announcements to improve HMRC’s debt collection capabilities, which is essential to maintaining a low and stable tax gap and funding public services.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many FTE HM Revenue and Customs staff of what civil service grade worked on which category of tax compliance activity in each of the last five financial years.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC takes a flexible and dynamic approach to resourcing in order to achieve its objectives. Within Customer Compliance Group, staff are deployed across a wide range of compliance risks. Internally, these are usually grouped by customer segment, tax head or specific tax risk being worked. To that effect, the data requested is not currently available by grade due to our systems not being able to segment data in a way that directly answers the request, and therefore this information would only be available at disproportionate cost. HMRC publishes information on the amounts spent on compliance by customer segment in our annual report and accounts at Tax by different customer groups – 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The information for 2023/24 will be available in 2024. HMRC does not release detailed breakdowns of this information for operational reasons.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) staffing and (b) non-staffing costs of HM Revenue and Customs tax compliance activities were in each of the last five financial years.

Nigel Huddleston: The staffing costs within HM Revenue and Customs tax compliance activities in the periods April 2018 to March 2023 were as follows: £2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Paybill1,024,672,8611,134,211,8941,148,916,5261,273,775,2041,485,502,301 The non-staffing costs within HM Revenue and Customs tax compliance activities in the periods April 2018 to March 2023 were as follows: £2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Non-pay117,439,386119,558,79993,319,383118,679,301122,382,915

Inheritance Tax: Probate

Derek Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the average time taken for HMRC to provide an inheritance tax reference number for the start of a probate process.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC prioritises requests for inheritance tax reference numbers and the follow up IHT400 forms submitted to set up an inheritance tax account.

Business Rates: Tax Allowances

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the 75% reduction in business rates offered by the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure relief scheme to cover the 2024-25 tax year.

Nigel Huddleston: At Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced it will extend the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief scheme at 75 per cent, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2024-25. Around 230,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties will be eligible for this relief, a tax cut worth nearly £2.4 billion.

Public Sector: Pay

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he had made a recent assessment of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of public sector pay review bodies on pay increases for public sector workers.

Laura Trott: For the 2023/24 pay round, the Government accepted the headline pay recommendations of the PRBs in full for the armed forces, teachers, prison officers, police, the judiciary, medical workforces, and senior civil servants, which has resulted in the highest pay uplifts in three decades. We have ensured that these PRB awards will not be paid for through borrowing.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Health: Disadvantaged

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to incorporate health inequalities into national development management policies.

Lee Rowley: The Government has confirmed that it will consult on the proposed suite of National Development Management Policies in 2024 and more information on their content will be shared in due course.

Housing: Construction

Mr Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will (a) commence section 123 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and (b) consult on draft regulations under that section.

Lee Rowley: The Government is moving quickly to commence section 123 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 in due course and will consult with the sector and local authorities when bringing regulations under section 2A subsection (5A) of the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015, as amended by section 123 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.

Unadopted Roads

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of households in (a) the UK and (b) Mid Bedfordshire constituency that are located on estate roads that have not been adopted by their local authority as of 4 December 2023.

Lee Rowley: Local government is responsible for this request.

Ground Rent

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department’s proposals for caps on ground rents will apply to all types of properties.

Lee Rowley: The Government launched a consultation on 9 November on options to limit the level of ground rent that leaseholders with a long lease can be required to pay in England and Wales.The consultation also asks whether any exemptions from a proposed cap to ground rents are necessary. We want to hear views on the proposals and will use these responses to develop a final position. We do not want to pre-empt the outcome of this consultation.

Energy Performance Certificates: Reform

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish his response to Lord Deben’s letter of 2 February 2023 on reform of domestic energy performance certificate rating metrics.

Lee Rowley: Government is committed to reforming the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regime. Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.

Local Government: Bankruptcy

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of councils at risk of issuing Section 114 notices between 4 December 2023 and the Final Local Government Finance Settlement in February 2024.

Simon Hoare: As the Secretary of State explained before the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee on Wednesday 6 December, the Government monitors the financial health of local authorities on a regular basis using a wide range of data as well as through extensive direct engagement with councils.

Care workers: Living Wage

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to provide additional funding to local authorities to cover the cost of increasing the national living wage for social care staff.

Simon Hoare: The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 made available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23. The government will look in the round at sector spending when finalising budgets at next year’s finance settlement, as we do every year. This will include considering the impact of inflation and other wider economic circumstances.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Project Gigabit: East Devon

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent progress her Department has made on the Project Gigabit procurement process for work in East Devon constituency.

Sir John Whittingdale: Over 95% of premises in East Devon already have access to a superfast broadband connection (over 30Mbps) and over 71% have access to gigabit-capable broadband (>1000 Mbps). This is slightly below the national average of 97% for superfast coverage and 79% for gigabit coverage respectively. As part of Project Gigabit, in September 2023 we launched a procurement to invite suppliers to bid for a contract to bring gigabit-capable broadband to the remaining premises in Mid and East Devon and West Somerset that are unlikely to be reached by broadband suppliers' commercial rollout plans. We aim to award a contract to the successful supplier in summer 2024.

Animal Experiments: Primates

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2023 to Question 200219 on Animal Experiments, whether her Department has a set a timeframe for ending the use of primates in scientific experiments.

Andrew Griffith: Government funds research using animals and non-animal technologies, because the regulated and limited use of animals, including non-human primates, in scientific procedures currently remains necessary for understanding how biological systems work and the development of new medicines. UKRI funds research aimed at reducing or eliminating the use of animals in research, providing approximately £10m/pa for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research. The NC3Rs leads a comprehensive programme focused on reducing the use of non-human primates in safety testing of pharmaceuticals. Government has not set a timeframe for ending the use of primates in research.

Research: Grants

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology when (a) CharcoalBlue in Southwark and (b) other firms will receive the Innovate UK R&D grants and associated tax relief and credits announced in 2020.

Andrew Griffith: Innovate UK awarded CharcolBlue £99,578 of project funding in 2020, which was paid in full in 2020. Tax relief claims are administered by HMRC in line with legislation. The tax affairs of companies and individuals are confidential.

Medicine: Research

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to help support the use of human-specific medical research.

Andrew Griffith: The Government has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals in this area. We are committed to supporting advances to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research, including stem cell research, cell culture systems, imaging and computer modelling. The UK has a world leading reputation for the delivery of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (3Rs). UK Research and Innovation provides funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice and regulations.

Medicine: Research

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with (a) domestic stakeholder organisations and (b) international partners regarding the use of human-specific medical research.

Andrew Griffith: The Secretary of State has not had any meetings specifically on human-specific medical research. However, the Government is committed to reducing the reliance on the use of animals in research and officials in the department meet representatives from relevant stakeholder organisations and businesses, including the RSPCA, Unilever, LUSH and Animal Free Research.

Research Bureaucracy Review

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4147 on Research Bureaucracy Review, which recommendations of the Independent Review of Research Bureaucracy have been implemented; which Government bodies implemented them; and which Departments provided funding for their implementation.

Andrew Griffith: The Government Response, currently in the final stages of publication, will provide a detailed description of how the relevant Government bodies are responding to the review’s recommendations, including ongoing actions and future plans. An example of work underway is UKRI’s Simpler and Better Funding programme which includes the creation of a single, consistent user-centred service called ‘The Funding Service’. This will ease the burden of finding, applying for and managing UKRI research funding.

Space Technology

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to page 45 of her Department's publication entitled National Space Strategy, published on 27 September 2021, what assessment her Department has made of its performance in meeting the ignition phase objectives.

Andrew Griffith: An update on the delivery of the National Space Strategy was published in July 2023 in the National Space Strategy in Action. This can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-space-strategy-in-action/national-space-strategy-in-action

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Poverty

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Statement 2023 on levels of poverty among benefit claimants.

Mims Davies: We are providing support to households to help with the high cost of living worth £104 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25. This includes, subject to Parliamentary approval, raising working age benefits by 6.7% and State pensions by 8.5% from April next year on top of this year’s 10.1% uprating for all State pensions and benefits. To support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the government will also raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents for private renters from April 2024. This will benefit 1.6m low-income households by on average £800 a year in 24/25. We are also, from April, increasing the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage. We estimate that in 2024/5 around 20 million families will benefit from the uprating of DWP and HMRC benefits in Great Britain. This will include around 8 million pensioner and around 11 million working age families and around 1 million mixed age couples. In 2024/25, around 5.5 million Universal Credit families are forecast to benefit from uprating with an average annual gain for a family on Universal Credit estimated to be £470 (equivalent to an increase of around £39 per month), however gains will vary depending on the elements received by different family types. An assessment of the benefit uprating policy has been published here. On average, households in the poorest income deciles are gaining the most in cash terms and as a percentage of net income in 2023-24 as a result of government policies announced at Autumn Statement 2022. This Government has overseen significant falls in absolute poverty since 2009/10. In 2021/22 there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10, including 400,000 fewer children and 1 million fewer working age adults.

Pension Credit: Publicity

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the cost to the public purse of the communications campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit between April 2022 and October 2023.

Paul Maynard: To raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up, the Department launched a nationwide marketing and communications campaign in April 2022. This campaign has included advertising on national TV, in regional and national newspapers, on local and national broadcast radio, medical centre and Post Office screens across Great Britain, as well as advertising on buses and digital street displays. Online marketing activity also included promotion of Pension Credit on social media, via internet search engines and sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their friends and family are likely to visit. Our Pension Credit Day of Action last year saw claims more than double to 275% compared to the same week the previous year - and we’re continuing to build on this success through various creative no-cost media campaigns to boost awareness of the benefit through broadcast, radio and print media. The number of claims received in the financial year 2022/23 was higher than over the same period the year before. The total cost of the campaign in the 2022/23 financial year was £2,785,927.23 The cost of the campaign in the 2023/24 financial year to October 2024 is £485,939.07.

Disability: Employment

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish the Disability Action Plan.

Tom Pursglove: The Disability Action Plan consultation ran for 12 weeks between 18 July and 6 October 2023. Since the consultation closed, we have been working carefully through the responses.

Pupils: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many students took part in the Adjustment Planner pilot.

Tom Pursglove: Three universities (Wolverhampton, Manchester Metropolitan, and Kings College London) piloted the Adjustments Planner. The pilot was evaluated by the universities, with 242 students providing a mix of qualitative and quantitative evidence.

Work Capability Assessment: Parkinson's Disease

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published on 5 September 2023, what estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of people who have a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease will no longer be deemed as having Limited Capacity for Work Related Activity under the planned reforms to the Work Capability Assessment.

Tom Pursglove: On 22 November we published our response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria, having carefully considered feedback from disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them.The OBR have said that they expect the changes we outlined in this response will mean that 371,000 fewer people will be declared as having Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA) by 2028/29 than otherwise would be the case. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course. HMT have also published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement.Estimates are not based on specific conditions because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.There have been significant changes to the world of work since 2011 when the WCA activities and descriptors were last comprehensively reviewed, particularly increased flexibility, and the availability of hybrid and home working jobs. As such, from 2025, we will be making changes to the criteria for Mobilising and Getting About in the WCA, as well as the Substantial Risk rules. In making these changes, we will continue to protect those with the most severe conditions, while ensuring those who can work are supported in doing so. To ensure those with the most significant mobilising limitations are still protected, we will retain the LCWRA Risk regulations for physical health – this means that where work preparation would lead to a deterioration in a claimant’s physical health they would still meet the eligibility for LCWRA.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Sports Competitors: Hearing Impairment

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Get Active: a strategy for the future of sport and physical activity, published on 30 August 2023, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding deaf athletes at the elite level.

Stuart Andrew: The Government’s “Get Active” strategy commits to making talent pathways accessible and inclusive, so our most talented athletes have a chance to be successful regardless of background.Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. Beyond this, they have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential solutions.

Sports: Hearing Impairment

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the allocation of UK Sport funding to (a) deaf athletes and (b) the Deaflympics.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has carried out an equality impact assessment of the elite sport funding of deaf people.

Stuart Andrew: UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.d/Deaf athletes do receive Government funding. Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. Beyond this, they have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential solutions.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Training

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the awayday held for staff in her Department's policy group on 29 November 2023, how many members of staff attended; what activities did it involve; and whether any costs were incurred in addition to the hire costs for the venue.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Policy Group away day was attended by approximately 360 people in person, with approximately 35 joining online.The away day was an opportunity for staff working on different policy areas to develop skills, network with other policy professionals and learn about the sectors the Department supports.The away day was structured in two parts, with informative visits to various organisations within the Department's sectors within central London taking place in the morning, and a conference taking place at Lord’s Cricket Ground in the afternoon.The afternoon featured three main activities. These included an interactive session delivered by the Department’s Policy Profession on skills and skills gaps within the Group, a session on communication and the art of explanation by an external speaker, and a session on including the “Youth Voice” in policy, led by one of the Department’s arms-length bodies.Costs incurred were in relation to venue hire, which included catering and an audio visual package. The venue was chosen after an extensive search and procurement process, as well as for its links to one of the sectors the Department oversees. No costs were incurred for any of the morning visits, nor for any of the afternoon sessions.

Gambling

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's Gambling white paper, published on 27 April 2023. whether she plans to take steps to help reduce the impact of the white paper's proposals on (a) casual gamblers and (b) the growth of illegal gambling.

Stuart Andrew: His Majesty’s Government recognises that, while millions of people gamble online without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. The white paper, published in April this year, outlines a balanced and proportionate package of measures.The white paper’s proposals are targeted to protect those most at risk of gambling addiction or suffering catastrophic losses, while having minimal impact on the freedoms of the large majority of gamblers. For example, financial risk checks will be frictionless checks and based on data sharing, and only apply to only the very highest spenders. Proposed changes to game design rules will only impact the most intense products and not how most people ordinarily play, and the proposed data sharing between operators is only for those showing strong indicators of harm. “Casual gamblers” will also benefit from a number of the reforms, such as the new ombudsman to provide redress when things go wrong, greater control over the gambling marketing they receive, and reforms to support the land-based sector. Where proposals have been subject to consultation, we and the Gambling Commission are considering all responses carefully, including from gamblers not suffering harm.We are also taking strong action to tackle illegal gambling alongside our reforms to the licensed sector. The Gambling Commission has been engaging with internet search and service providers to delist illegal operators and restrict access, working with payment providers and financial institutions to cut illegal operators off from payments, and working with software providers to prevent access to popular products and games. Furthermore, as we committed in the white paper, we are legislating through the recently introduced Criminal Justice Bill to give the Gambling Commission tough new powers to tackle criminal gambling websites.

Northern Ireland Office

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had discussions with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland on (a) its consultation on inconsiderate pavement parking, which closed on 18 March 2022 and (b) when it plans to publish a response to the consultation.

Mr Steve Baker: Policy regarding pavement parking and its enforcement in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Infrastructure. Any decision around the publication of the results of the ‘Inconsiderate pavement parking - Options Paper’ and the potential implementation of its recommendations rest with the Department of Infrastructure. A devolved power-sharing government, in line with the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, is the best way to deliver good governance and prosperity in Northern Ireland. It is vital that the Northern Ireland Executive is restored so that locally elected representatives are in place to continue important policy development relating to issues such as parking and enforcement.

Ulster Bank: Closures

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with Natwest on the potential merits of pausing their planned closure of Ulster Bank branches.

Mr Steve Baker: There are no plans to discuss with Natwest the recent announcement for the Ulster Bank branch network which is ultimately an operational decision for the bank. The Secretary of State and I, however, recognise that decisions around branch closures may cause concern in those areas which are impacted, and for staff, and I urge Natwest to provide timely and informative updates to the communities they serve and ensure that access to in person banking services can be maintained where possible through other routes.

Wales Office

Coal: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, for what reason he did not jointly sign the letter from the First Minister of Wales on the release of location data for Category C and D disused coal tips, dated 7 November 2023.

David T C Davies: As coal tips are a devolved matter and out of respect for the devolution agreement, I felt that the letter would be best coming from the First Minister.